Darrell Hair is confident of his ability to umpire at the top level as he prepares to stand in the second Test between England and New Zealand at Old Trafford.

The 55-year-old Australian is back in his first Test since a controversial match between England and Pakistan at The Oval in August 2006.

Hair's award of five penalty runs to England for alleged ball tampering by Pakistan in the Fourth Test saw the tourists refuse to take the field after tea on the penultimate day.

Following a period of confusion it was eventually announced Pakistan had become the first team in history to forfeit a Test match.

In the aftermath of the incident the focus shifted to Hair, and Pakistan called for him to be barred from officiating in any of their matches.

Hair was dropped as a Test match official soon after the Oval incident by the International Cricket Council after it revealed he had tendered his resignation in return for a payment of £250,000.

The issue rumbled on and in October 2007 Hair took the ICC to an employment tribunal in London for alleged racial discrimination.

He maintained that his treatment over the incident had been unfair because fellow umpire Billy Doctrove, who bore equal responsibility for the decision to abandon the match, was allowed to go on umpiring in Tests while he was barred.

But he dropped the action midway through the hearing in the hope it would lead to his Test recall.

Hair has since been on an official ICC rehabilitation course and admitted he has learned to communicate better ahead of his return in Manchester.

"I think the decision-making ability is still there, the only thing that could change that is a lack of confidence because I haven't done a Test match recently," Hair said in an interview with Inside Australian Cricket.

"I've always been a little bit stand-offish in that I've always preferred to let them play the game themselves and only get involved when things go overboard.

"But maybe there's a case to be made for a little bit more work in that area.

"Provided I get the right processes and triggers into place in my technique on a ball-by-ball basis, I'm confident I'll be able to make the majority of correct decisions.

"If that turns out to be otherwise, then I'd probably need to look at if I am still capable of umpiring at an international level.

"But at the moment I feel confident in my abilities and the fact that I can do it.

"If it doesn't work and I'm not up to it, and let's face it every year you get older and your hearing and eyesight get worse, then maybe a coaching or mentoring role is a preferred option."

The ICC will hope that Hair's return to the highest level passes without incident and the message from the England and New Zealand camps has been positive towards Hair's appointment to stand in the match.

England spinner Monty Panesar said: "Darrell Hair coming into his first Test for a while I don't think will be any issue.

"I don't know if he'll be under extra pressure, but he's got so much experience that for him he will just be looking forward to it.

"He's a respected umpire and it's good to see someone like him coming back into international cricket, but it's not much of a talking point for us."

Kiwi coach John Bracewell added: "We've had Darrell heaps of times and never had a problem with him. We always felt he was a pretty good umpire, so we haven't got a problem."