Mystery Shrouds Woolmer’s Death

The local sleuths investigating the death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer neither confirmed nor denied that the former England Test player was murdered. Rumors were however rife that Bob died as a result of strangulation. Woolmer's body had marks on the throat and a bone in the neck, near the glands was broken.

Police revealed that they were treating Bob’s death as "suspicious" but stopped short of suggesting that he had been murdered. There are claims that he was murdered by "match-fixing mafia".

Former Pakistani fast-bowler Sarfraz Nawaz said, "Woolmer's death has some connection with the match-fixing mafia. I've been saying this for the last four days that Woolmer's death is not natural, but it's a murder."

Woolmer's wife Gill, however disagreed. She said, "No, I don't see any conspiracy in his death. He had nothing to do with the match-fixing controversy and any such person being involved is highly unlikely. We never got any threats as far as I know."

It may be recalled that Woolmer was found lying face down in the bathroom of the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Sunday morning, the day after Pakistan's shocking defeat to cricketing minnows Ireland in the Cricket World Cup 2007.

There was vomit, blood and bodily waste in the bathroom. The hotel room remained closed off on Wednesday with homicide investigators busy searching the room in a bid to uncover further clues. Police also reviewed the hotel's CCTV footage of activity in the corridors of the hotel.

The police first reported that post mortem results were inconclusive and were seeking more help to come to a conclusive finding about Woolmer's death.

An official release categorically stated, "Following consultations today, involving representatives from the Government of Jamaica and the police, a decision was taken to seek the opinion of a second pathologist."

Meanwhile, more tributes poured in for Bob. Former Warwickshire chief executive Dennis Amiss gave his backing to the idea of a permanent memorial at Edgbaston. Also, the Pakistan team dedicated their 93 run victory over Zimbabwe to Woolmer.

The members of the Pakistani cricket team were interviwed on Wednesday by the police authorities, according to the The Times Of India report.

The paper also reported, "It is now unclear whether the team will be allowed to leave on Saturday as initially scheduled."

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.