Pakistan's Coach Dies Suddenly!

bbability

Just watched RTE news and Robbie Irwin reporting from Jamica that Pakistan Coach Bob Woolmer has died from a Heart Attack!

cooker3

Sky sports news have it as well
Wow, thats terrible.

Mothman

Really sad news

bbability

Sky News just broke the story while interviewing Dickie Bird about Flintoff being stripped of Vice-Captaincy. It ends up Bob Woolmer was a close friend of Dickie Bird's. He looked visably shaken.
Once again hats off to Newstalk for reporting it first on the Radio.

445279.ie

bbability wrote:

It ends up Bob Woolmer was a close friend of Dickie Bird's. He looked visably shaken.

And yet they kept asking him questions when it was obvious he was upset :rolleyes:

mikeruurds

Bob will be missed.

R.I.P.

DMC

rebel72 wrote:

And yet the kept asking him questions when it was obvious he was upset :rolleyes:

Dickie is a very emotional man. He'd turn on tears like a tap. His tears would be genuine though, Dickie is a softie.

R.I.P. Bob.

regi

Wow That's awful

mikeruurds

DMC wrote:

Dickie is a very emotional man. He'd turn on tears like a tap. His tears would be genuine though, Dickie is a softie.

R.I.P. Bob.

Dickie is an absolute gent.

galwayrush

very sad news.

DMC

mikeruurds wrote:

Dickie is an absolute gent.

Absolutely. He's fantastic. One of cricket genuine characters. My favourite former umpire.

mike65

Bob Woolmers final thoughts on the game

Mike.

copacetic

mike65 wrote:

Bob Woolmers final thoughts on the game

Mike.

cheers for the link, Bob was always a big supporter of the likes of Ireland getting on to the big stage.

Really am shocked at this. Hope we can keep the guessing games out of it until we hear more news.

Jonny Arson

I'm absolutely shocked

R.I.P Bob

ircoha

King.Penguin wrote:

RIP.
Condolences.

His is a great loss to the game RIP

county

total shock,my wife text me the news in work,my jaw hit the ground.

RIP Bob

copacetic

cricinfo tribute:

http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/wc2007/content/story/286005.html

Rikand

Shocking and a tragic loss to the game. He was an extremely innovative coach who had fantastic success with South Africa and with Pakistan. He will be deeply missed in Cricket

Dickie is a legend, I grow up watching him umpire with my dad. Was very sad the day he retired from umpiring

iemillst

Couldn't believe it when Beefy announced it. So sudden, so shocking.

A good batter, an inspirational coach, one of crickets free thinkers. A great loss to the sport.

I sincerely hope cricket had no involvement in his death whatsoever. Tis' only a game after all.

Enjoy the next place Bob.

mikeruurds

iemillst wrote:

Couldn't believe it when Beefy announced it. So sudden, so shocking.

A good batter, an inspirational coach, one of crickets free thinkers. A great loss to the sport.

I sincerely hope cricket had no involvement in his death whatsoever. Tis' only a game after all.

Enjoy the next place Bob.

Great post.

DMC

BBC News online saying post mortem "inconclusive"..... more to follow...

Royale with Cheese

Ummmm

If it's on cricinfo it can't just be wild speculation

DMC

And the speculation starts in earnest.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/6473645.stm

"The Pakistan team are now discussing whether to pull out of their World Cup match with Zimbabwe, a spokesman said."

Not what the Irish want to hear, either....

DMC

This is developing at a fast pace at this early hour.... and I guessed this might occur...

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/story/286453.html

Pakistan don't want to play final game
Cricinfo staff
March 21, 2007

The Pakistan team are reluctant to play their final match of the World Cup against Zimbabwe, scheduled for later today, according to Pervez Mir, the team's media manager. The match is inconsequential for Pakistan, who have been knocked out, but it is significant for Zimbabwe, who could qualify for the next round if they beat Pakistan and finish with a better net run-rate than Ireland.

Mir said the team was in no mental state to play following revelations that Bob Woolmer, the coach who died on Sunday, might have been murdered. He said he was going to discuss the matter with ICC officials and the local organisers.

Ireland tied their first match with Zimbabwe and are currently ahead on points and run-rate with one more game to go against West Indies on Friday. However, Zimbabwe are not out of contention after managing to keep West Indies in the field till the 48th over in their match on Monday.

The Pakistan players tried to put up a veneer of normalcy when it practised at Sabina Park on Tuesday, playing football and indulging in banter before heading for nets, but the latest development has shaken them.

© Cricinfo

Royale with Cheese

Arse biscuits. What happens if Pakistan don't play. A forfeit? Automatic win for Zimbabwe?

DMC

I can only see two points going to Zimbabwe if Pakistan don't play.

That would leave them on 3 points, with the net run rate could be left at 0. I'll have to chase that up. Zimbabwe are behind Ireland on NRR, BUT we will have to play the Windies, and our NRR will change depending on the result.

We could be looking at forfeiture. Again.

Ireland are on +0.274 , Zimbabwe are on -0.114 after 2 games a piece.

DMC

5 Live has just reported that the PCB have said the match is on.

DMC

Chairman tells Pakistan to play final game
Cricinfo staff
March 21, 2007
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wc2007/content/current/story/286453.html

A reluctant Pakistan team has been ordered to complete their World Cup commitment by Nasim Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman.

The players had earlier wanted to pull out of their last engagement against Zimbabwe at Sabina Park on Wednesday following revelations Bob Woolmer, their coach, might have been murdered. However, a forfeit would have plunged the World Cup into further chaos as it would have tied Zimbabwe and Ireland on points.

The match is inconsequential for Pakistan, who have been knocked out of the tournament, but hugely significant for Zimbabwe and Ireland, whose progress depends on it. Ireland have their noses ahead at the moment, with superior points and net run-rate, but Zimbabwe would have drawn level if Pakistan did not play and could have squeezed ahead if Ireland suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of West Indies on Friday.

Pervez Mir, the Pakistan media manager, had earlier told reporters the Pakistan team management would be speaking to the ICC about pulling out since many of the players were not in the right mental frame to play.

However, he later confirmed the match would go ahead following discussions between the team management and Ashraf, who has resigned from his position, but has not yet been relieved by Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan president, who is also the patron-in-chief of the PCB.

© Cricinfo

KevIRL

DMC wrote:

Chairman tells Pakistan to play final game
Cricinfo staff
March 21, 2007
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/wc2007/content/current/story/286453.html

Still though, If they are not in any frame of mind to play this, it could be an easy win for Zim and improve their NRR considerably.

mikeruurds

KevIRL wrote:

Still though, If they are not in any frame of mind to play this, it could be an easy win for Zim and improve their NRR considerably.

Yeah a demoralised Pak is not good for Ireland if they are just going to show up and lose. If they do it would be the first time since India in 1975 that a top team doesn't win a single game in the WC.

At least we don't have long to wait. Surely this can'y come down to NRR???

copacetic

A lot of stories now coming out saying the police are investigating Bobs death as Murder and also that there
is rumours of a match fixing ring.
They do seem to be mostly coming from Indian news sources so I'm not sure if they are reliable but it does
seem at the very least that the police are working on the assumption he was murdered and that they found
traces of poison in his room

http://www.cricketworldcuplatest.com/news/poison-traces-found-in-deceased-pakistan-coach-bob-11692.html

http://www.cricketworldcuplatest.com/news/pakistan-cricket-board-pcb-spokesman-pervez-mir-su-11696.html

http://www.cricketworldcuplatest.com/news/a-tv-channel-alleges-that-pakistan-coach-bob-woolm-11700.html

county

copacetic wrote:

A lot of stories now coming out saying the police are investigating Bobs death as Murder and also that there
is rumours of a match fixing ring.
They do seem to be mostly coming from Indian news sources so I'm not sure if they are reliable but it does
seem at the very least that the police are working on the assumption he was murdered and that they found
traces of poison in his room

http://www.cricketworldcuplatest.com/news/poison-traces-found-in-deceased-pakistan-coach-bob-11692.html

http://www.cricketworldcuplatest.com/news/pakistan-cricket-board-pcb-spokesman-pervez-mir-su-11696.html

http://www.cricketworldcuplatest.com/news/a-tv-channel-alleges-that-pakistan-coach-bob-woolm-11700.html

sky sports are saying ' suspicious'

http://home.skysports.com/cwc/article.aspx?hlid=455838&CPID=491&clid=1214&lid=4161&title=Woolmer+death+'is+suspicious'

_blank_

Match fixing in the Ireland game? :eek:

Placebo

yeah matching fixing is the first thing that comes to mind tbh, no offence to any of the irish players, well played, but all the players CAUGHT OUT ? i think pakistani players are experienced enough to keep the ball on the ground.
ALOT , i mean ALOT OF money to be had because of the odds, theyve been known to take bribes before, but the pakistani cricket board changed and cleaned up, pity to hear rumours of such happening again.

mikeruurds

Placebo wrote:

yeah matching fixing is the first thing that comes to mind tbh, no offence to any of the irish players, well played, but all the players CAUGHT OUT ? i think pakistani players are experienced enough to keep the ball on the ground.
ALOT , i mean ALOT OF money to be had because of the odds, theyve been known to take bribes before, but the pakistani cricket board changed and cleaned up, pity to hear rumours of such happening again.

I would believe it was match fixing if they beat the Windies and then lost to Ireland. I find it hard to believe that the team would throw a match which would result in them going home in the first round.

I could only see them throwing a match if it didn't affect progression to the next round.

Placebo

i just find it hard to believe they were all caught out, despite the bad selection of team members, they were well able to beat ireland. i think odds are high and easily predicted in the first round since all high and low class teams play together, progressing further, bets are reduced, result is really unkown.
take india vs bermuda for example, be assured that no ones gonna be hitting a 400+ in the super 8's.

copacetic

mikeruurds wrote:

I would believe it was match fixing if they beat the Windies and then lost to Ireland. I find it hard to believe that the team would throw a match which would result in them going home in the first round.

I could only see them throwing a match if it didn't affect progression to the next round.

based on how they played against us i don't think there could have been match fixing either. They certainly didn't act like they wanted to lose. Take for example the appeal for Andre when his bat was nowhere near the ball, surely if they were trying to lose they wouldn't appeal like crazy for something that clearly wasn't out?

Marshy

mikeruurds wrote:

I would believe it was match fixing if they beat the Windies and then lost to Ireland. I find it hard to believe that the team would throw a match which would result in them going home in the first round.
I could only see them throwing a match if it didn't affect progression to the next round.

I'd have to agree. Yes they were all caught out but I think that was mainly down to the contempt they probably had for the Irish bowlers.

Also as mike says who'd throw a match which would knock them out of the world cup... seems very strange.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how things develop.

DMC

/me stumbles out of bed... again...

Unless they nobbled Brian Jerling too! Which I doubt (though sometimes his decisions make me wonder!)

I find it hard to suspect match fixing with respect to the Ireland game. It was a must-win for Pakistan, to get to the Super 8's. The bookies would have wanted them to play in the Super 8's. Unless they had a big shiny red phone in the dressing room marked "Bookies", they wouldn't know. Conditions favoured Ireland once they won the toss. Its like something you'd see in Phoenix Park in mid-April, not a World Cup wicket. Which also makes me wonder why they use so many different wickets for each match? If a pitch can last 4 or 5 days of a test match, why don't they use the same wicket twice during 4 group matches?

Placebo

hmm im just giving my 2 cents, it is very odd either way. And copacetic, thats pakistan for you ! appealing crazy for everything and anything
only honest performance i seen was from good old Sami. legend.
AS FAR as fixing goes, if its anything like the old days, all bets would have been made back in pak, And as i said, despite being a must win, it would have been seen like an easy win, ireland havent been in the worldcup, in over 20 years !

copacetic

Placebo wrote:

And copacetic, thats pakistan for you ! appealing crazy for everything and anything

well i know that, but they would hardly do it if they were trying to throw the game..

DMC

Placebo wrote:

hmm im just giving my 2 cents, it is very odd either way. And copacetic, thats pakistan for you ! appealing crazy for everything and anything

It was a good spot and worthy of discussion. I didn't notice that myself. Ireland couldn't buy an LBW because of all the wides they had!

Quixote1064

Conspiracy theorists might beinterested in this
http://www.saharasamay.com/samayhtml/Articles.aspx?NewsId=72226
Nawaz seems to see bad guys everywhere but that doesn't mean he's wrong

Chucky the tree

Very good article on tuesdays irish times about Woolmer and how he was treated by the paki cricket board a few days before it. If any one could post it up it would be great.

mikeruurds

Quote by Jonty Rhodes today:

"The two most important people in my cricketing career were Hansie [Cronje] and Bob and they're both gone," said Rhodes. "I just hope they're not in heaven picking a team because I don't want to be next."

One great man speaking about another

[Posted this in two threads... apologies - it's a damn good quote!]

DMC

Woolmer's wife was on 5 Live earlier, and she is satisfied that his death was not suspicious.

Chucky the tree

Eh, and why excactly did she say that? She wasnt even in West indies was she? I think she just said that in more of a hoping way.

DMC

The doctors and the police would'nt be bull****ting her, on the death of her husband. Also, there are a lot of journalists trying to dig out a story that might not be there.

Listen here.

Chucky the tree

DMC wrote:

The doctors and the police would'nt be bull****ting her, on the death of her husband. Also, there are a lot of journalists trying to dig out a story that might not be there.

Listen here.

So why did the head of police come out and say the death was "suspicious"? They dont say that unless they are very confident it was murder.

redzerdrog

heard it on the news think i was watching RTE at the time but they were reporting unconfirmed reports of a murder

DMC

Chucky the tree wrote:

So why did the head of police come out and say the death was "suspicious"? They dont say that unless they are very confident it was murder.

It appears that recording, which appeared today was made after the "suspicious" statement from the Police.

EDIT: no, the interview was clearly today.