Darrell Hair's career as a leading international umpire was left in the balance after the Australian official was withdrawn from next month's Champions Trophy in India because of security concerns.
Hair's decision, taken alongside West Indian colleague Billy Doctrove, to penalize Pakistan five runs for altering the condition of the ball during the fourth Test against England at The Oval last month was called into question on Thursday when Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was cleared of ball-tampering
However, the star batsman was banned for four one-day internationals by a two-day International Cricket Council (ICC) disciplinary hearing for bringing cricket into disrepute after his side twice refused to take the field after tea on the fourth day.
That led the umpires to award the Test to England after Pakistan were deemed to have forfeited the match -- the first time a game had finished in such circumstances in the 129-year history of Test cricket.
But there was an implied criticism of that decision when the full text of adjudicator Ranjan Madugalle's verdict was released late on Thursday.
The ICC's chief match referee concluded that, were such a situation to recur, "the umpires and other officials should do everything possible to ensure the resumption of play."
"And they should not return to the field of play and then declare the match to be forfeited unless and until they are absolutely sure that the team is refusing to play the rest of the match. All other options should first be exhausted, involving discussions with the team captains and management," he wrote.
Hair, speaking at an Oval news conference on Thursday, said he accepted the ICC's decision to withdraw him from the Champions Trophy but added: "Of course I wish to keep on being an umpire."
"If other people consider I am still good enough to umpire I will continue," Hair, who turns 54 today, told reporters.
"I umpire matches in good faith and take the decisions I feel necessary on the field," the veteran of 76 Tests said.
The experienced umpire, who was involved in another cricket flashpoint when he no-balled Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing in 1995, said he bore no ill-will to Inzamam.
"I will be the first to shake hands, I want that to happen," he said.
Hair, whose contract with the ICC expires in March 2008, said he remained confident in his ability.
"I will still go out there and do my umpiring to the best of my ability ... I'm pretty bloody good at it. If a mistake's been made that's fine but when I make that mistake in good faith I have to be happy with it," Hair said.
And he highlighted how he'd not been alone in his decision.
"There were two umpires and the decision for unfair play cannot take place unless the umpires agree," he said.
Hair denied he was a "controversial" umpire, saying his history too often obscured his current performances.
"Unfortunately it gets attached to something that happened 10 or 12 years ago. I have umpired Sri Lankan Test matches and one-day internationals since 2003 and there have been no complaints," he said.
E-mails published by the ICC after the Test revealed that Hair had offered to stand down in return for a one-off payment of US$500,000 to cover the remainder of his contract, an offer he later rescinded.
But the ICC, following fears expressed by Indian officials, said they were pulling Hair out of the Champions Trophy because of "safety and security concerns for Darrell and those who will be around him".
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