Darrell Hair's future as a Test umpire will not be the only subject on the agenda when the International Cricket Council's executive board meet in Dubai on Saturday. Much time will be spent discussing how Malcolm Speed, the chief executive of the ICC, has handled this issue - and also whether Mike Procter, the match referee, could have overruled Hair and ensured that the final day's play at the Oval took place. One senior ICC source told me: "The match referee can do that. There were two other umpires if Hair was not amenable. They could have been brought in and we need to look at these powers, how they are used, and make sure nothing like this ever happens again." Hair, meanwhile, has gone on a carefully vetted legal counter-attack against the ICC. Forty-eight hours after Speed's release of the e-mail that showed Hair had asked for $500,000 (£265,000) to quit the elite panel of umpires, the Australian responded by saying that he was actually encouraged to send the e-mail by the senior ICC official he reported to.