Bob Woolmer dies hours after Pakistan exit from WC 2007

A day after the shocking defeat and exit of Pakistan from the world cup, its coach, Bob Woolmer passed away on Sunday. The 58-year-old Englishman died in a Jamaica hospital after being found unconscious in his hotel room.

Bob was a widely respected man for his cricketing acumen, innovative spirit, honesty and frankness. Soon after the appalling exit of Pakistan from the world cup, Late Bob Woolmer attended a press conference which turned out to be his last public appearance. He admitted that Pakistan, as a team, had performed poorly.

He said, “We deserve to take stick. We were outperformed and it is as simple as that. I will get back to the fact that it's a game of cricket. These things happen and everyone should try and remember that. We are sorry that we performed like we had; we didn't mean to do it. Credit to Ireland and good luck to them. They did very well.”

He further talked about the kind of stress coaches feel during such time and said, "Doing it internationally, it takes a toll on you - the endless travelling and the non-stop living out of hotels."

Born on May 14, 1948 in Kanpur, India, Woolmer won the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1976. He played 19 test matches for England and was one of a handful of former players who went on to become hugely successful coaches. He missed the inaugural World Cup in 1975 due to injury.

His coaching career began at Warwickshire and led to him being appointed coach of South Africa in 1994. In the next five years, South Africa won most of their test and One-day International matches. However, when the side failed to make the final of the 1999 World Cup, Woolmer resigned. Thereafter, Pakistan bagged Woolmer as a replacement to the then coach Javed Miandad in 2004.

Woolmer emerged as a pioneer in the use of technology to assist the team he coached. His laptop coaching and computer based analysis of his own team's strengths and the opponents weaknesses is well known in cricketing circles.

Meanwhile, the mass outrage in Pakistan after the defeat on Saturday turned to mourning when the news of Woolmer’s death broke out.

The International Cricket Council will ask World Cup teams to wear black armbands during their next matches as a mark of respect for the Pakistan coach. The venues of the next matches will fly their flags at half-mast and there will be a minute's silence before the start of the games.

Pakistan will play against Zimbabwe on Wednesday in their final World Cup group match. Andrew Walpole, spokesman for the England team at the World Cup, said: "Our thoughts are with Bob`s family. This has come as a huge shock to all of the England team.

"He was a figure who commanded great respect within world cricket and he will be sorely missed."