PCB chief Nasim Ashraf hoped an expected announcement on Tuesday by Jamaican police would show that their former coach was not murdered.
KARACHI: Pakistani cricket chief said they hoped an expected announcement on Tuesday by Jamaican police on the death of Bob Woolmer would show that their former coach was not murdered.
According to reports from Jamaica, its police commissioner Lucius Thomas is expected to announce at a press conference later in the day that Woolmer died of natural causes during the World Cup finals.
"We have yet to receive any news from the Jamaican police, but the information gathered suggests a decision is expected on Tuesday and we hope it would endorse our opinion that Woolmer died of natural causes," Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf said.
Woolmer, 58, died soon after being found unconscious in his hotel room in Jamaica the day after Pakistan were knocked out of the Cricket World Cup by minnows Ireland.
An initial autopsy report proved inconclusive, but a pathology report later indicated he died of asphyxia as a result of "manual strangulation," which led the police to treat the death as murder.
The claims cast a shadow over the cricket showcase amid speculation about links to an alleged gambling mafia.
The Pakistan team were finger-printed and provided DNA samples, with then-captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed among three members of the entourage who were questioned twice over the affair.
But the BBC last week said that London's Metropolitan Police had concluded after a British government pathologist flew to Jamaica that Woolmer, a former England batsman, had died of natural causes.
Ashraf said the PCB would decide on further steps --including possible legal action against the investigators --only after Jamaican police reveal their findings.
"Our reaction related to taking any legal action will come only after a final decision is announced," said Ashraf, whose board was under pressure from current and former players to sue the investigators.
Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has advised the PCB to sue the Jamaican police for their handling of the case.
"In my opinion the PCB should sue for defamation," Khan told Britain's Guardian newspaper last week.
"If I was the Pakistan captain I would have asked for damages. They should also sue Sarfraz Nawaz, because he was the first one to raise allegations of the Pakistan team's involvement with bookies," he added.
Nawaz, a former Pakistan fast bowler, had linked Woolmer's death to the 'match-fixing mafia' and alleged Pakistan's World Cup matches were fixed.
Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf also backed Khan's stance, saying the players were subjected to "horrifying" investigations.
"We were treated in a horrifying manner and once it is proved Woolmer died of natural causes we must sue the Jamaican police for baseless allegations," Yousuf said last week.
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