Broom was not out - umpire Hair

Former Test umpire Darrell Hair said yesterday Neil Broom should definitely have been given not out and that it was "unfortunate'' wicketkeeper Brad Haddin hadn't admitted his infringement.

"It's quite clear-cut. His [Haddin's] gloves were in front of the stumps and the ball hadn't passed the line of stumps, so he's in breach of the law and it should have just been an automatic no ball,'' said Hair, now executive officer of the NSW Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association.

"Of all the people on the ground, he would have been the one who was best positioned to know. I think he should have owned up to it.

"I saw that Ponting has gone into bat for him after the Kiwis called him [Haddin] a cheat, but I can understand why the Kiwis would be livid about it.''

The responsibility for detecting Haddin's encroachment lay with square leg umpire Bruce Oxenfor.

"People think the square leg umpire is out there for a rest, but the most important thing the square leg umpire is out there to look for are the things that happen the least and that's hit wicket and the wicketkeeper encroaching,'' Hair said."

"From a laws point of view, it should have just been called a no ball from the square leg umpire and that would have been the end of anything. You can't be stumped and you can't be bowled off a no ball. But it's obvious that the ball missed the stump as well.''

- © Fairfax NZ News