AFP

LONDON, Oct 1: Darrell Hair, the Australian umpire who accused Pakistan of ball-tampering in his final Test in 2006, will be in court on Monday to sue the International Cricket Council for racial discrimination.   

Leading figures in the game, including Malcolm Speed, Dave Richardson, David Morgan, who takes office as ICC President on Monday, and John Jameson, will be appearing in the witness box during the hearing at the Central Office of London Tribunals, which could last for two weeks.

Hair's claim rests on the argument that Billy Doctrove, a black West Indian umpire who stood with Hair at the controversial Oval Test match between England and Pakistan last year, is still allocated top-level matches, which Hair, despite still being paid a retainer by the ICC, is not.   

Doctrove and Chris Kelly, the England and Wales Cricket Board's (ECB) umpires manager, will appear in the witness box to support Hair's case.   

Though Hair, 55, has officiated in ICC Associate matches in Kenya, Canada and Ireland, and was put on the ECB's reserve list last year, he has effectively been sacked as an international umpire.   

He will be represented by Robert Griffiths QC, while Michael Beloff QC will argue on behalf of the ICC, whose legal expenses are expected to reach one million pounds (1.4 million euros, 2.0 million dollars).   

As the two sides have been unable to reach a settlement, the ICC will be flying in senior officials from around the world in addition to chief executive Speed and general manager Richardson.   

Inzamam ul-Haq, who was Pakistan's captain during the Oval Test and has since been cleared of ball-tampering, has been served a witness summons to attend the hearing on Monday.   

He returned to Pakistan after his contract with county cricket side Yorkshire concluded at the end of the season, and it is unclear if he will be in London for the tribunal.   

Though the tribunal does not have the power to compel his attendance, it could decide to issue sanctions that could lead to prosecution.

Hair, despite his experience, has attracted the ire of Asian cricket sides for more than a decade over what they have considered to be his unnecessarily strict application of cricketing rules.   

He spent the weekend in England visiting friends, and celebrated his birthday at a central London hotel on Sunday evening, having moved back to his native Australia last March with his wife, Amanda, a local government executive there.   

Hair flew into London on Thursday after attending an ICC umpires seminar in South Africa.