Pak coach Bob Woolmer dead

KINGSTON: Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer died on Sunday after being found unconscious in his hotel room the morning after his side's shock World Cup exit. He was 58.   

"Robert Andrew Woolmer has passed away today and the entire Pakistan team and management are shocked and saddened by his passing," team spokesman Parvez Mir said, reading a statement.   

"His next of kin have been informed and we extend our deepest condolences to his family. The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board has also been informed. There will be a coroner's inquest and in keeping with Jamaican law an autopsy will take place into his death. Further information will be released by the PCB at the earliest opportunity once it has been received from the hospital," he said.

Although Mir declined to confirm the cause of death or if Woolmer had died in his hotel room or hospital, he added: "Hotel staff found him about 10.30 pm. He was laid out on the floor, with mouth wide open and blood on the bathroom floor... and there was vomit on the walls."   

Mir confirmed that Woolmer had been ''perfectly fine after the game''.   

"I had a very good chat with him and he was thinking about doing a number of things for Pakistan cricket. He had a lot of plans and wanted to go back and speak to the chairman."  

He also said Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was ''totally shocked and bewildered'' with the news.       

Woolmer had seen his team crash out of the World Cup on Saturday after a shock Group D defeat by debutants Ireland at Sabina Park.   

The former England batsman was made coach of Pakistan in June 2004. The job of coaching the national team of the cricket-crazy country is considered one of the most pressurised in the sport.   

Woolmer, who has a distinguished career as a coach, appeared to take the three-wicket defeat to debutants Ireland in his stride following the match.   

His contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board was due to expire on June 30 but it was widely expected he would part company with them after the World Cup which is scheduled to finish on April 28.   

"I would like to sleep on my future as a coach," Woolmer said in Saturday's post-match news conference.   

"It's what I do best, what I try to do best. Therefore I'm not going to throw away coaching just like that. However, internationally I will give it some thought. Travelling and being involved non-stop in hotels and so on takes its toll," he had said.

"I think we have a good team in this World Cup, but we have not played as well as we should have, or could have. Quite frankly, a lot of credit must be given to Ireland, and a lot of credit should be given to the ICC's High Performance Programme, and we deserve to take stick because we have not performed. This is a game of cricket, and everyone should try to remember this. We are sorry that we have performed in the way that we have. We didn't mean to do it, but all credit to Ireland and good luck to them," he had said.   

Before turning to coaching, Woolmer played 19 Tests and six one-dayers for England during the 1970s. He has also coached the South African national team.     

International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Malcolm Speed, speaking at the Beausejour Cricket Ground in St Lucia where England were playing Canada in a World Cup match, said: "We are all greatly saddened by Bob Woolmer's passing. He was a great cricket man. His life was devoted to cricket."   

Speed added that the ICC were working with the Pakistan Cricket Board on paying an appropriate tribute to Woolmer during the World Cup.   

Former England captain Mike Denness, an established Kent player when Woolmer broke into the county side in the late 1960s, said: "He was a great lad, a great motivator. He was a bit eccentric at times but it is a terrible loss. It really hits you very hard when someone you've played with passes away. I feel very sorry for his wife, Gill and his family. I don't know whether this is a result of the pressure and tension of the World Cup but Pakistan obviously wanted to do as well as everyone else and he would feel for them."   

"I remember going to his house in Cape Town and many years ago he showed me his work room. He had everything on computers even then. This was before the technology was readily available and he showed me how he was going to monitor things and study each player's performance," he added.   

"He was one of the first to really work on the reverse-sweep shot, he probably worked at it too much. He taught people to go back when they were playing it rather than go forward to give batsmen more room to play and he developed a lot of that."    

Andrew Walpole, spokesman for the England team at the World Cup, said: "Our thoughts are with Bob's family. This has come as a huge shock to all of the England team.   

"He was a figure who commanded great respect within world cricket and he will be sorely missed."

Pakistan face Zimbabwe on Wednesday in their final World Cup group match.   

Factfile
Full Name: Robert Andrew Woolmer    
Date of birth: 14 May 1948     
Place of birth: Kanpur, India     
Batting Style: Right-hand bat     
Bowling Style: Right-arm medium     
Teams: England, Kent, Natal, Western Province    
Test Debut: Against Australia at Lord's on 31-07-1975    
ODI Debut: Against Australia at Old Trafford on 24-08-1972        

International career details   
Tests: 19    
Runs: 1,059    
Highest score: 149   
Average: 33.09   
100s: 3       
Wickets: 4       
ODIs: 6    
Runs: 21   
Highest score: 9   
Average: 5.25   
100s: 0       
Wickets: 9       

Coaching career
1991: Appointed Director of Coaching at Warwickshire CCC     
1993: Warwickshire wins the NatWest Trophy     
1994: Warwickshire win 3 out of 4 trophies and are runners up in the NatWest series. Appointed coach of South Africa     
1999: Leaves South Africa job after team fails to make World Cup final   
2001: Joins ICC as High Performance Manager   
2005: Appointed coach of Pakistan