Darrell Hair insisted he was still a "bloody good" umpire after his future as one of cricket's elite officials was left in limbo when the Australian was withdrawn Thursday from next month's Champions Trophy in India because of security concerns.

Hair, 53, was at the centre of a damaging row last month over the ball-tampering allegations against Pakistan that led to the Oval Test against England ending in a farce.

Pakistan, incensed that experienced Australia official Hair accused them of ball tampering by penalising the team five runs, refused to take the field after tea on the fourth day.

Hair and fellow-umpire Billy Doctrove of the West Indies awarded the match to England, resulting in the first forfeiture in the 129-year history of Test cricket.

Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq was on Thursday cleared of ball-tampering but found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute and banned for four one-day internationals.

Hair said he accepted the ICC's decision not to employ him as an umpire at the 10-nation Champions Trophy but added: "Of course I wish to keep on being an umpire.

"My umpiring performance or career is on public record and if other people consider I am still good enough to umpire I will continue.

"I umpire matches in good faith and take the decisions I feel necessary on the field.

"My contract with the ICC states I must umpire to the best of my ability and apply the laws of cricket, honestly and fairly. I'm out there doing my best," said Hair, a veteran of 76 Tests.

Before taking questions, Hair stressed he was bound by the umpires' code of conduct and was unable to comment directly on the disciplinary hearing, but added: "I wish to make it clear that allegation of bias against either umpire formed no part of this case."

And he stressed that although the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) wanted him banned from officiating in any of their matches, he was happy to oversee Pakistan fixtures.

"I don't have a problem umpiring any cricket match anywhere in the world," insisted Hair.

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 told reporters at The Oval here Thursday.

Hair, whose contract with the ICC expires in 2008, said he remained confident in his ability.

"If you can't learn to handle criticism you shouldn't be out there. 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."

And he highlighted how he'd not been alone in his decision.

"A lot of people could be forgiven for thinking there was only one umpire out there," he said.

"Billy Doctrove and I have umpired quite a lot together in the past and I hope to umpire with him in the future but whether he chooses to come to a press conference is his choice.

"There were two umpires and the decision for unfair play cannot take place unless the umpires agree."

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 500,000 dollars to cover the remainder of his contract.

"It may well have been an ill-advised thing to do at the time but I have already admitted that," Hair said before concluding his news conference by asking for his privacy, and that of his family and neighbours, to be respected.

(Article: Copyright © 2006 AFP)