The man who co-officiated at a controversial England versus Pakistan Test match did not turn up to umpire Darrell Hair's employment tribunal on Thursday for unspecified personal reasons.
Billy Doctrove, a West Indian, was umpiring alongside Australia's Hair when Pakistan were penalised for ball tampering and England awarded the match after Pakistan refused to continue in protest at the Oval in London last August.
Doctrove was due to take the stand at an employment tribunal but Hair's lawyer Stephen Whale told the hearing he had been unable to leave Dominica "for personal reasons that are too confidential to explain".
Hair is taking action against the International Cricket Council (ICC) for alleged racial discrimination because he says that, while he has not been allowed to officiate in Tests since the incident, Doctrove has escaped censure.
ICC associate board member Prince Tunku Imran, of Malaysia, told the hearing he had been "concerned" because Hair was apparently the man who stood in the way of the match resuming. "I thought that Darrell had exercised bad judgement on that day by failing to consult with the match referee," he added.
Hair said Wednesday that he would "do exactly the same thing again" if the situation recurred and had been "extremely disappointed" at how the match had ended.
Meanwhile, doubts emerged at the hearing about whether Pakistan captain Inzamam ul-Haq will appear or not. "Mr ul-Haq has not formally said that he will attend - to answer questions, give a statement or attend," Whale said. "I must be fair to him and everybody else - he has mentioned difficulty in this respect to his position being picked for the Pakistan team and Ramadan."
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