GatewayRedbirds.com

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1770

The world of cricket is in shock after Pakistan coach and former England batsman Bob Woolmer died a day after his team lost a crucial World Cup match to underdogs Ireland.

Woolmer, 58, was found unconscious in his hotel room in Jamaica this morning and taken to hospital in the capital Kingston where he died this afternoon.

He had yesterday watched his Pakistan team suffer a shock defeat against Ireland to become the first country knocked out of the tournament.

The coach was born in India but later moved to the UK where he played cricket for Kent and England.

He came to prominence in recent years as an international coach - firstly of South Africa and later Pakistan .

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OMG. First they get eliminated from the World Cup, then their coach dies. So sad.

Wow, it's really crazy....

Link

Rumors swirled about the mysterious circumstances of his death. Woolmer was diabetic, and his family said the stress of the job might have contributed to a heart attack. But one Pakistani newspaper reported a rumor that the death might have been a suicide. An autopsy will be conducted to attempt to find out exactly what happened.

On another note, Pakistan's bearish captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, announced he would resign his post and step away from one-day international cricket. Fans in Pakistan reacted with angry mobs and chants of death to players and officials. One dejected fan said in a report that, "They should be hanged in public for letting down millions of fans."

The feeling was shared by their neighbors in India as well. Bangladesh's pouncing left India vulnerable, and the nation of 1.3 billion expressed its outrage with the same disdain. Even in my wife's hometown of Ahmedabad, irate fans burned effigies of Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.

Pakistan's performance was its worst ever, and for a nation in political chaos, cricket was supposed to provide a pleasant distraction. Now, it simply added to the disarray. The exodus also gave the West Indies a clear advantage to advance to the next round. India's hopes still remain, and it responded with vigor, demolishing Bermuda with 413 runs, a World Cup record. But, with the loss to Bangladesh, India now must now face a must-win situation against Sri Lanka.

--Amar Shah

http://www.cricketworldcuplatest.com/ne ... 11682.html

Woolmer was found dead in the washroom of his hotel room on Sunday with vomit on the floor and walls and the team official said there was also a sugar check metre lying close to him.

The former England player was a diabetic patient and also suffered from the rare sleeping disorder of [sleep apnea] where the patient stops breathing while sleeping.


http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsAr ... ER-COL.XML

KINGSTON, Jamaica (Reuters) - Findings from a post mortem into the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer were "inconclusive," the Pakistan Cricket Board said on Tuesday.

Spokesman Pervez Mir told a news conference that further reports were being carried out by a toxicologist and a histologist (scientist who examines body tissue).

Mark Shields, deputy commissioner of the Jamaican police constabulary (crime division), said that the body could not be released until the pathologist had completed his examination.

Woolmer, 58, was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room on Sunday after his team had been eliminated from the World Cup by debutants Ireland less than 24 hours earlier.

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TabascoElvis wrote:Wow, it's really crazy....

Link

Rumors swirled about the mysterious circumstances of his death. Woolmer was diabetic, and his family said the stress of the job might have contributed to a heart attack. But one Pakistani newspaper reported a rumor that the death might have been a suicide. An autopsy will be conducted to attempt to find out exactly what happened.

On another note, Pakistan's bearish captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, announced he would resign his post and step away from one-day international cricket. Fans in Pakistan reacted with angry mobs and chants of death to players and officials. One dejected fan said in a report that, "They should be hanged in public for letting down millions of fans."

The feeling was shared by their neighbors in India as well. Bangladesh's pouncing left India vulnerable, and the nation of 1.3 billion expressed its outrage with the same disdain. Even in my wife's hometown of Ahmedabad, irate fans burned effigies of Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.

Pakistan's performance was its worst ever, and for a nation in political chaos, cricket was supposed to provide a pleasant distraction. Now, it simply added to the disarray. The exodus also gave the West Indies a clear advantage to advance to the next round. India's hopes still remain, and it responded with vigor, demolishing Bermuda with 413 runs, a World Cup record. But, with the loss to Bangladesh, India now must now face a must-win situation against Sri Lanka.

--Amar Shah

This is nothing. You can't even imagine how much cricket is in the blood of Indians and Pakistanis. They will die for cricket. Being a cricket player is a very stressful job in Indian subcontinent. If you dont reach at least sem-finals in World Cup, you are screwed. Angry fans will attack their houses and all. Infact when India lost to Bangladesh, some fans vandalized Dhoni's (one of the cricketer) house. Now all the Indian team players' houses are under Police security.

Its sad that Pakistan couldnt qualify for the next round. The fact is they are missing 4 key players due to injury. And the death of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer made it even worse. Initial reports are he died out of stress which is very sad. After all its just a game and people forget that.

India lost to a minnow, Bangladesh. Its an uphill task for India now. They HAVE to beat Sri Lanka on friday to qualify for next round. Sri Lanka is a very good team and its gonna be a great game. If India lose this game, they better dont come back to India because fans will be "waiting" for them. Its sad, but its true.

Makes the fans in Philly seem rather tame.

Now they are saying his death is "suspicious" and the police are involved.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SPORT/03/21/cri ... index.html

KINGSTON, Jamaica (CNN) -- Jamaican police said they were treating the death of Pakistan's cricket coach, Bob Woolmer, as "suspicious."

"Having met with the pathologist, other medical personnel and investigators, there is now sufficient information to continue a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Woolmer, which we are now treating as suspicious," said Mark Shields, Jamaica's deputy police commissioner.

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Could some crackpot have murdered him because the team lost?

Pakistan goes out with a win over Zimbabwe.

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wc2007/ ... 86504.html

Imran Nazir's destructive career-best 160 was the centrepiece of Pakistan's defiant 93-run victory over Zimbabwe under the Duckworth-Lewis method. It was a day full of emotion as they took the field for the first time since the death of Bob Woolmer, none more so than when Inzamam-ul-Haq's final ODI knock ended and he walked off in tears. Pakistan powered to their highest World Cup total before Zimbabwe, already in a hopeless position, collapsed in a heap after a lengthy rain delay, in the process confirming Ireland's place in the Super Eights.

Whether the motivation came from playing for pride, their coach or their captain, Pakistan put in a proud display. In a fitting finish Inzamam took the final catch, off surprise wicket-taker Mohammad Yousuf, and the team broke out into smiles. The captain led his players off and took the applause of a small crowd. It was a brief moment of enjoyment during a dark period.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1991

Former Pakistan fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz on Wednesday night sensationally claimed that coach Bob Woolmer was murdered by gangsters because he was about to reveal details of alleged match-fixing.

Sarfraz, who works for the Pakistan Sports Ministry, alleged that while Saturday’s World Cup loss to Ireland was genuine, last week’s defeat by the West Indies was fixed and Woolmer had discovered details of the scam.

"Woolmer has been murdered by these people who seek to control the game," he said. One authoritative source within the game has told Sportsmail that a heart attack has been ruled out and that the cause of death was choking.

Woolmer died after being found unconscious on Sunday and the main focus of the police investigation is on whether he was strangled. Blood marks were found on his neck.

The source added: "This is far from being a straightforward matter." A 10-man forensic team spent Wednesday at Kingston’s Pegasus Hotel. They are set to examine mobile telephone numbers used by people connected with the squad and some SIM cards will be seized.

Local toxicologists were carrying out further tests on Woolmer’s body. Sarfraz, a maverick who has long campaigned against bookmakers’ involvement in Pakistani cricket, made a series of astonishing claims to Sportsmail and claimed match-fixing was still rife.

"It is still going on. I believe Woolmer found out about what went on in the West Indies and was about to reveal all."

Sarfraz said some players agreed to lose against the West Indies, thinking they would easily beat Ireland and Zimbabwe.

He added: "When it all started going wrong against Ireland you could see the despair on their faces — it was as if they had just lost their parents. It was the realisation of what they had just done.

"Woolmer is not the first person in cricket to be fooled by these people. Hansie Cronje [the former South Africa captain who was banned for life after being convicted of match-fixing] died in a plane crash that has never been properly explained.

"A bookie called Hanif Cadbury, who had links to him was killed in Johannesburg four years ago. Woolmer was the coach when Cronje was up to no good and must have had an inkling of what went on then. Now the same thing has happened with Pakistan."

Woolmer had started work on a sequel to his autobiography at the time of his death, but it is not believed that there was any reference in it to match-fixing either in South African or Pakistani cricket.

Sarfraz went as far as to name five players he believed were involved in betting, but they cannot be named for legal reasons.

In recent years, Pakistan teams are assumed to have cleaned up their act and many players have followed the example of captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and become strict adherents to Islam.

Woolmer’s widow, Gill, said she was "totally shocked" to learn that her husband’s death was suspicious, but added: "I don’t see any conspiracy in his death.

"He had nothing to do with the match-fixing controversy and any such people being involved is highly unlikely. We never got any threats as far as I know."

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Just wow!

Nice sport.