Darrell Hair’s “dignity has been violated” and the Australian umpire “has suffered personally and financially” as a result of the ICC bowing to pressure from the Asian cricketing nations to prevent him from standing in Test matches for the past year, an employment tribunal in London was told yesterday.

Hair claims that he was denied employment on racially discriminatory grounds after the Test match between England and Pakistan at the Brit Oval in August last year was abandoned in the wake of Pakistan’s refusal to take the field, having been accused by the umpires of ball-tampering.

While Hair has not been allowed to stand as an official in internationals involving full ICC members, Billy Doctrove, his colleague in the middle at the Oval during the fourth Test, has continued to umpire at the highest level. Hair contends that because Doctrove is a black West Indian, the ICC treated him differently.

Giving an opening statement on behalf of Hair, Robert Griffiths, QC, claimed that the decision at an ICC meeting last November to prohibit his client from umpiring at the top level was taken at a private, unminuted lunch between three ICC board members who were hostile to Hair.

Percy Sonn, the president of the ICC who died in May, directed Nasim Ashraf, the newly appointed chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Peter Chingoka, of Zimbabwe, and Sir John Anderson, of New Zealand, to propose a resolution on the matter during a recess. Griffiths argued that Ashraf, who had been with Pakistan during the protest at the Oval and had complained about Hair standing in future Tests, was “the very last person in the world who should have been directed to take part in that discussion”.

“He was effectively prosecutor, judge and jury,” Griffiths said, adding that Chingoka and Anderson had also spoken previously in favour of taking action against Hair.

The full board reconvened after lunch to finalise the issue but a crucial segment of the tape recording of the board’s deliberations is missing. “Is this cricket’s Watergate?” Griffiths asked.

Contending that pressure had been brought to bear on the ICC by the Asian bloc members, Griffiths said: “The Asian bloc is dominant in cricket. Sometimes it uses that dominance inappropriately. Everyone knows it, most are afraid to say so.”

Speaking for the ICC, Michael Beloff, QC, denied the allegations. “[Hair] was not a victim of race discrimination,” he said. “He was the author of his own misfortune. In cricketing terms, Mr Hair ran himself out.”

Beloff argued that a “damaging blow to the game’s reputation and finances was the product of the obduracy of one man” and suggested that Hair’s behaviour rather than his race was the issue. “Exactly the same decision would have been reached had Mr Hair been black or brown or even green,” Beloff said.

While Hair said all decisions at the Oval had been taken jointly and that it was Doctrove who first removed the bails, signifying that the match had been forfeited, the ICC claimed that Hair was “immeasurably more experienced” than Doctrove, that “in every action during the fourth Test which has excited adverse comment, Mr Hair took the initiative and Mr Doctrove’s role was only to agree” and that Hair had walked out of a meeting to broker a restart to the match.

Hair said he had done so after insulting comments and “a serious gesture of offence” were made at him in the meeting by Inzamam-ul-Haq, the Pakistan captain.

Griffiths emphasised that Hair’s record as an umpire was largely impeccable and comparable with the best officials in the game. He had regularly received praise in reports from captains, coaches and fellow officials.

Yet Hair has often been at the centre of controversy with Asian teams. After he no-balled Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lanka off spinner, for throwing in 1995, he was not appointed to matches involving Sri Lanka until 2003, a policy he claimed yesterday was also racially motivated.

Hair will finish his testimony today. Doctrove is expected to be called as a witness for Hair on Thursday. The tribunal is due to last for two weeks.