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The International Cricket Council (ICC) Chief Executive Malcolm Speed believes that umpire Darrell Hair’s Test career could be over after the controversy of the past week.

Hair offered to quit top-level cricket in return for 500,000 dollars after the ball-tampering furore which lead to Pakistan forfeiting their final Test against England at The Oval. Speed said he wanted Hair to continue but did not know whether the Australian could shake off this latest controversy.

A week after ball-tampering allegations almost forced them to abandon the tour, Pakistan would set their eyes back on cricket and take on England in a Twenty20 game here today (Monday).

Pakistan have never played a Twenty20 international before but believe that with the firepower of pinch-hitters Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq and the return of speedster Shoaib Akhtar and opener Shoaib Malik, they would conquer the hosts with ease.

The curtain-raiser to the one-day series that was in doubt in the wake of The Oval fiasco, follows a 3-0 rout of Pakistan in the four-match Test contest.

The Australian cricket board has suggested that umpires from England and Australia be allowed to stand during this year’s Ashes series. The ICC rules stipulate that all Test matches should have third-country umpires, but the Australians believe that the quality of decision-making will be better if the umpires from the two countries are part of the panel.

According to ‘The Age’, though a formal request hasn’t yet been placed, Cricket Australia directors have been exploring the option with the ICC. Peter Young, a spokesman for Cricket Australia, said that a contest between the two best teams in the world should have the best officials as well.

England had wrapped up the series before the fourth Test against Pakistan, and they had received a hammering from Mohammad Yousuf.

His scores in the series were 202, 48, 38, 15, 192 and 8. Pakistan were pushing for a consolation win at The Oval and Yousuf scored 128 in the first innings.

With one innings left, he had an outside shot at beating Mudassar Nazar’s Pakistan record for most runs in a series (761 against India 1982-83) but because of the forfeiture on the fourth day his tally remained 631.

The Pakistan cricket team players have been told to forget the ball-tampering row with umpire Darrell Hair and look to winning the Twenty20 match and one-day series against England, team manager Zaheer Abbas told on Saturday.

“They have been advised that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and International Cricket Council (ICC) will sort out the ball-tampering row and to just concentrate on doing well in the one-day series,” Abbas said.

Inzamam-ul-Haq’s Code of Conduct hearing has been delayed further on the request of Pakistan’s lawyers and would now be held in London sometime around the end of next month, an International Cricket Council (ICC) official said here on Saturday.

The official said that the lawyers representing the Pakistan captain believe they need more time to prepare a strong case and would want the hearing to be stretched further. The game’s governing body has accepted the request and would fix the date of the hearing sometimes in the last week of September.

Pakistani cricketing great Javed Miandad said on Saturday that umpire Darrell Hair’s offer to resign in return for 500,000 dollars, and its disclosure by the ICC, had set a bad precedent.

He said the latest developments in the controversy surrounding Hair had strengthened Pakistan’s case regarding allegations of ball-tampering that the umpire made last week against captain Inzaman-ul-Haq. “The truth must come out,” Miandad told. “Both the ICC and Hair have set a bad precedent for cricket,” he added.

Darrell Hair’s ball tampering accusations against Pakistan left Inzamam-ul-Haq fuming to the point that he seriously considered pulling out of the tour at one stage.

But six days after The Oval Test ended in a fiasco, the Pakistan captain is cooling down and getting ready to do what he does best, playing cricket. “What has happened has happened and now we have to look towards the future,” Inzamam told this correspondent in an interview on Saturday. “We have some important matches coming up and need to shift our focus on them,” he told.

England have accepted an “unequivocal assurance” from Pakistan that they will play the one-day series which starts with a Twenty20 game on Monday.

The hosts have ended contingency plans for England to play an International XI at Bristol and then face West Indies in the five 50-over games which follow.

Pakistan will complete their tour as scheduled despite Inzamam-ul-Haq’s disciplinary hearing being delayed. He faces ball-tampering and disrepute charges arising out of the fourth Test.

They re-affirmed their commitment to the one-day series following Friday’s revelation that umpire Darrell Hair offered to resign in return for $500,000 in the wake of last weekend’s furore at The Oval.

The mood in the tourists’ camp is of joy following disclosure of Darrell Hair’s demand for money to step down as an Elite Panel Umpire but the Pakistan cricket chief Shaharyar Khan is asking his boys to delay any celebration over the latest twist in The Oval Test saga.

“It is good for our case that the world now knows how he (Hair) asked for money following the fiasco,” said the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman while talking to this correspondent here on Saturday.