Woolmer Murdered!!!

Death due to Asphyxiation caused by manual strangulation

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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.

Bob Woolmer Murdered?

Cricket takes a back seat at its showpiece event

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This World Cup has been mired in more controversies than any of the previous ones. What with controversies and scandals erupting almost daily now, the world cup is more in the news for off the field events than on it. It will be some time before we forget this world cup, that’s for sure.

The controversies were kick started by Sunil Gavaskar and Ricky Ponting going at each other over the Australia’s alleged bad behavior on the field. Things took a nasty turn when Gavaskar dragged the let David Hookes’s name into the whole affair. This further fuelled the controversy and Gavaskar was forced to apologize subsequently for doing it. Boy if we thought that was the end of the controversies at this world cup then were we wrong!!!

Flintoff and a few of his teammates then decided to provide some more spice to the world cup. They were caught by a few of the Britan’s notorious tabloids as having been involved in a late night party at a local bar in the Caribbean on a match day. Flintoff exacerbated the situation by choosing to go on a boating in the rough seas at night and in a completely drunken state. He had to be fished out of the water alter on when his boat capsized. He paid the price for this recklessness by sitting out the next match and more importantly by losing his vice-captaincy of the team.

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There was further shock, thankfully on the field this time, when Ireland and Bangladesh pulled off massive upsets to beat India and Pakistan respectively. The Indians fans reaction to the defeat was as predictably over the top as when they win. Cricketers’ homes were vandalized, effigies burned and generally branded as shameful to the nation. Egged on by a manipulative media and the outrage were at a fever pitch.

Then the biggest controversy exploded which overshadowed everything that has and will happen at this world cup. Barring a calamitous event occurring right on the day of the final, Bob Woolmer’s sudden demise would be the most shocking event cricket world would see for some time. The Pakistani coach was found in a pool of his own vomit. He was also bleeding from the nose and had died. It was generally believed that the stress of the defeat had taken a toll on the South African and that he had succumbed to either a heart attack or a hemorrhage arising out of the stress he was under.

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But speculation refused to die down after his death and now 3 days after his death the Jamaican police has announced that his death was suspicious under the circumstances. Right now it is difficult to differentiate the fact from the fiction, as unconfirmed news beamed 24 hours by the ever vigilant media is fuelling several conspiracy theories. There are reports, that claim to have come from sources with the Jamaican police, that Bob Woolmer was murdered. There are reports which suggest that there are marks around his neck. Some say that his body, when found, was blue in color suggesting that he was poisoned. Some reports claim that the police have found fingerprints in his room and traces of poison too. While others say he was poisoned in his food.

The motive too has been subject to serious speculation. Some claim that he could have been murdered because of a book he was writing, where it was widely believed he would throw more light into the match fixing scandal that had erupted during his tenure as coach of the South African team. They point to the fact that Hansi Cronje, then captain of South Africa and an accused in that case, had also died suddenly in an air crash just like Woolmer had died suddenly now. People like Sarfaras Nawas have publicly said on the day he died itself that the bookmakers are involved in the Woolmer’s death. There are even others who feel that he was killed by angry Pakistani fans upset over their team’s sudden exit from the competition.

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What is known for a fact so far is that the autopsy has been inconclusive as to the cause of death. The police have announced that the reports of further tests like toxicology and histology are being awaited before any further concrete assumptions can be drawn. Till then all three possibilities are open; murder, suicide and drug overdose.

By this time tomorrow we might have a better idea on how Bob Woolmer passed away. Whatever it may be this could become the biggest thing to have shaken the cricketing world since the match fixing scandal broke out in the early part of this millennium. If Woolmer’s death turns out to be a murder it will be some time before the focus shifts back to the activities on the field.