Woolmer death draws out foul play rumours

LAHORE: Though the Pakistan Cricket Board insists that team coach Robert Woolmer died of a massive heart attack, it is being speculated in cricketing circles that he could have been killed to cover up match-fixing by the Pakistani team.

Former Pakistani fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz told reporters in Lahore on Monday that certain top players in the team were involved in fixing the matches against the West Indies and Ireland.

Apparently certain PCB insiders told Nawaz that at least five leading bookies from Pakistan had reached the West Indies in the first week of March and were in touch with heavyweights in the team.

“The theory going around in West Indies police circles is that Woolmer might have been killed by those who wanted to silence him on the issue of match-fixing,” he claimed.

A former PCB official who requested anonymity said Woolmer’s book, Discovering Cricket, which he was writing, could have exposed the cricketer-bookie nexus in Pakistan, India, and South Africa.

The official claimed that Woolmer met Delhi police officers during Pakistan’s 2005 tour of India to gather material for the book. Nawaz said Woolmer had finished more than 50 per cent of the book.

Meanwhile, Pakistan team media manager PJ Mir denied media reports that Woolmer died of a drug overdose.