Bristol, August 29 :

Darrell Hair has apologised for the e-mail he sent offering to resign as an umpire in exchange for 500,000 dollars after the ball-tampering row which cut short the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at The Oval.

The apology came as, in a separate move, the Australian was withdrawn from standing in an English 2nd XI Championship fixture by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).

“I wish to apologise to all of my family, friends and supporters because I somehow feel that I may have let them down simply by sending an ill-advised but entirely confidential e-mail,” Hair, who later rescinded his offer, was quoted in Tuesday’s edition of Britain’s The Times newspaper as saying.

“This has given other people the opportunity to question my motives,” he added.

Hair was due to umpire a 2nd XI Championship match between Derbyshire and loucestershire at Chesterfield starting on Wednesday.

However, the ECB’s umpires and operations manager, Chris Kelly, said in Bristol on Tuesday that Hair would no longer be officiating in that match. “It’s an inappropriate time for him to do the match with what’s going on. There are lots and lots of issues,” Kelly said.