Hair rues Haddin's role in Broom dismissal

Australia and New Zealand are divided over Brad Haddin's role in the controversial dismissal of Neil Broom in the first one-dayer, but former umpire Darrell Hair feels it is "quite clear-cut" that the Aussie wicketkeeper breached the law.

"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 the former International Cricket Council elite panel umpire.

"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 (Ricky) 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," he said.

Hair, who is now an executive officer of the NSW Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association, also questioned square leg umpire Bruce Oxenford's role in the incident.

"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 was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald.

"It should have just been called a no-ball from the square leg umpire... 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," Hair said.