Woolmer death casts a shadow
The 2007 event in West Indies was undoubtedly the worst World Cup from the organisers’ standpoint. It was a tournament sodden with controversy, with the ICC taking most of the joy out of cricket in the Caribbean through high ticket prices, banning of musical instruments and kowtowing to sponsors to the extent that spectators were asked to turn t-shirts containing conflicting logos inside out. It all culminated to an embarrassment of a final where Australia beat Sri Lanka in near darkness. Despite all these administrative gaffes, the tournament will forever be remembered for the tragic death of Bob Woolmer, the Pakistani coach and former England cricketer.
On March 18, the day after Pakistan’s shock defeat to Ireland, Bob Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room and within hours, it was confirmed that he had passed away during the night.
After an autopsy, the Jamaican police revealed that Woolmer’s death was due to asphyxiation as a result of manual strangulation, and the case was then treated as murder. Rumours that his death was connected to match-fixing resulted in calls from some quarters that the tournament be cancelled but it was eventually decided that the show must go on.
The Pakistan team were questioned and tested for incriminating DNA as were the Irish players who were staying at the same hotel. Nine days after the coach’s demise, the Pakistanis were officially eliminated from the investigation. Three months of investigation followed with experts coming in from across the world, including Scotland Yard. Over that time, a theory that Woolmer might have been poisoned did the rounds, before Mark Shields, the man in charge of the investigation, rubbished these rumours as wild speculation.
In a final twist, on June 12 the Jamaican police confirmed that Woolmer had died of natural causes, but his death will forever be shrouded in mystery as the pathologist who had first submitted that Woolmer died of asphyxiation still sticks by his original report.
It is a tragedy that a revolutionary coach who was the architect of South Africa’s rise after readmission and loved by his players, will forever be remembered for the mysterious circumstances of his death.
Woolmer’s passing was a great loss for the cricketing world.
