Woolmer Murdered!!!

Death due to Asphyxiation caused by manual strangulation

Image Courtsey: smh.com

The shocks and scandals at this world cup just keep on coming. It has reached a crescendo with the police announcing that Bob Woolmer was indeed murdered. The Jamaican police have announced that the cause of death is due to Asphyxiation caused by manual strangulation. They reached this conclusion after autopsy reports confirmed rumors that he had injuries in and around his neck. The Jamaican police have asked for the help of the Scotland Yard and two detectives are already on their way to the Caribbean to help in the investigation.

This event will now overshadow everything that has happened and will happen at this world cup. Speculation is going to be at a fever pitch now since the Jamaican police have not given the details regarding either the motive or the suspects in the case. In fact they have asked for the general public to come forward with any sort of information that they might have.

What is known though is that the transcript of the book that Woolmer was working on is missing. This is significant because it was widely believed that Woolmer was set to bring to light many more dark secrets regarding the match fixing scandal and also the bookie-player nexus. Considering that it would have taken more than one person to strangulate a big man like Woolmer the police is saying that there is a strang possibility that more than one person might be involved in the murder. When you have more than one person involved in a murder then by definition there was a conspiracy. This also now puts a cloud of suspicion over the death of former South African captain Hansie Cronje. He it might be remembered also died in a private plane crash. Cronje was previously banned for life for his alleged involvement in the match fixing.

What is also disturbing is that the security cameras at the hotel were only pointing to the entrances to the hotel and also to the floors but it was not pointing to the doors of the rooms. Also it should also be kept in mind that one had to a use an access card to get into the hotel. So far the no one from the Pakistan team or from the cricketing fraternity is a suspect in the crime so far.

So what does this entire episode mean to cricket in general and the world cup in particular? ICC has already announced that the world cup would continue as scheduled. But it would be difficult for everyone involved to put this tragic episode out of their mind. Cricket on its part should be thankful that no one from its fraternity is involved in the murder yet. If that happens then this story would get even more explosive. Let’s hope for the game’s sake that that is not the case.