Haddin draws flak from Hair for Broom dismissal

MELBOURNE: Australian cricketers are once again at the centre of an on-field controversy with the New Zealand team calling Aussie wicketkeeper Brad Haddin a "cheat" over his role in the contentious dismissal of a batsman in the first ODI between the two countries on Sunday which the home side lost.
New Zealand batsman Neil Broom was given out clean bowled although TV replays showed that Heading's gloves were in front of the wicket when the Michael Clarke delivery was judged to have crashed on to the stumps.
Haddin's conduct drew flak from former Australian umpire Darrell Hair who said it was quite "clear-cut" that the Aussie wicketkeeper had breached the law.
"It's quite clear-cut. His (Haddin's) gloves were in front of the stumps and the ball hadn't passed the line of stumps, so he's in breach of the law and it should have just been an automatic no-ball," said the former International Cricket Council elite panel umpire.
"Of all the people on the ground, he would have been the one who was best positioned to know. I think he should have owned up to it. I saw that (Ricky) Ponting has gone into bat for him after the Kiwis called him (Haddin) a cheat, but I can understand why the Kiwis would be livid about it," he said.
Hair, who is now an executive officer of the NSW Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association, also questioned square leg umpire Bruce Oxenford's role in the incident.
"People think the square leg umpire is out there for a rest, but the most important thing the square leg umpire is out there to look for are the things that happen the least and that's hit wicket and the wicketkeeper encroaching," Hair was quoted as saying in the 'Sydney Morning Herald'.
"It should have just been called a no-ball from the square leg umpire... You can't be stumped and you can't be bowled off a no-ball. But it's obvious that the ball missed the stump as well," Hair said.
This is not the first time that Australian players' on-field conduct has raised eyebrows. When the Indian team toured the country last year, Aussie vice-captain Michael Clarke claimed a bumped catch during the infamous Sydney Test, marred by the racism row involving all-rounder Andrew Symonds and Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.
Retired wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist appealed for a catch of Rahul Dravid during the same match but TV replays showed that the ball missed the Indian's bat by a considerable distance.
Both the decisions had gone in favour of the Aussies but they came in for severe criticism later with the then Indian captain Anil Kumble saying that "only one team played in the spirit of the game."