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March 18, 2007

Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's Coach has died under mysterious conditions in Jamaica! The breaking news of his sudden demise comes less than Pakistan's shocking exit out of the World Cup due to a defeat against Ireland.

According to the officials, Bob Woolmer, aged 58, was last seen during Saturday night and he did not join the team for breakfast this morning. At 10:45 AM Jamaican time, the management started to get suspicious and had broken the room door. They found Woolmer in an unconscious state with bleeding from his mouth. He was taken to the Kingston University Hospital where he was pronounced dead. It is speculated that he might have died due to a hemorrhage. Woolmer is a diabetic patient but it is still unclear about the reasons for the sudden death. An autopsy will be carried out by the Jamaican Authorities to determine the cause of his death. Bob Woolmer had addressed the media after his team's loss against Ireland in which he had said "sorry" for the defeat. He looked a very stressful individual during the media conference which had lot of difficult questions to answer.

Born in Kanpur, India in 1948, Bob played his cricket for Kent before he was selected in the England team. He went onto play 19 Tests and 6 ODIs between 1972 and 1981. His full name was Robert Andrew Woolmer and was a right handed batsman with a highest test score of 149. He had an impressive but short career with three 100s and two 50s. He was also a useful medium pacer in his playing days. But he was more famous as a coach as he guided South Africa in that role for nearly five years. He was the first international coach to use a laptop for analyzing the strengths and weaknesses along with strategy. In the 1999 World Cup, he and Hansie Cronje, the then Captain were communicating with each other through an ear piece during a match! The ICC which was taken by surprise by this innovative and unfair mode quickly banned it. Woolmer's stint as South Africa's Coach ended in 1999 as SA choked in the Semis!

The Pakistan Cricket Board had roped in Woolmer for their Coach Post in 2004 and his tenure was expected to come to an end after this World Cup. It wasn't a roller coaster ride at all for Bob with lots of controversies hitting in the recent past. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif were given ban for taking drugs which was later overturned during this period. His relationship with Shoaib Akhtar was no way good with reports coming that he was slapped by the latter in South Africa. He was under constant fire from the ex-cricketers for Pakistan's lukewarm performances. The stress seems to have finally got too much to handle for him after that defeat against Ireland which saw his team crashing from the World Cup!

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