The death of Bob Woolmer came as a big shock to everyone in the cricketing world. He had represented England in Test cricket, and was also a successful county player. His contribution to the game, however, will be remembered more for his coaching acumen.

South African cricket owes a lot to him, his scientific approach, the stress on fielding and running between the wickets and hi-tech monitoring equipment, all of which were adopted by the other cricketing nations.

The autopsy report states that Woolmer died under suspicious circumstances and Pakistan-based Geo-TV reported that he died because of poisoning. Bob was a courageous man who never gave up, so there is no possibility of him having committed suicide. A factor to be considered is that he was a diabetic and suffered from high blood pressure.

'Bob was a courageous man who never gave up, so there is no possibility of him having committed suicide'


The Jamaican police have asked all Pakistani players to stay within the hotel, and the team physio and trainer are being questioned by the police. What actually happened that night? Could it be that Bob discovered a player's connection with the match-fixing mafia? Were the two matches played by Pakistan fixed? Did the players get cold feet and, fearing punishment, did they poison Bob's drink?


The next few days will be critical and some ugly skeletons might come out of the cupboard. Pakistan are in tatters and it's not certain they will fulfil the fixture against Zimbabwe. The least Inzamam-ul-Haq and his boys can do is to win this match for their coach.