INDIA: CRICKET - People in India's northern Kanpur, birthplace of Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer, have been mourning his death

India's northern Kanpur was immersed in grief on Monday (March 19) at the news of the death of Pakistani coach Bob Woolmer, who was born in the city. Woolmer, 58, was declared dead in hospital on Sunday after he was found unconscious in his hotel room in Kingston, Jamaica. His team had crashed out of the World Cup less than 24 hours earlier after losing to debutants Ireland. The coach was born in India's northern Kanpur city in 1948 as Robert Andrew Woolmer to an English couple. Woolmer's father, who lived in the city, had represented the cricket team of erstwhile United Provinces, the present Uttar Pradesh state, but his career was restricted to just one match. Later his family settled in England. Krishna Kant Bhatnagar, chairman of Georgina McRobert Memorial Hospital, where Woolmer was born offered his condolences to the bereaved family. Margery Dutta, Honorary Secretary of Georgina McRobert Memorial Hospital said they were shocked at the death of Woolmer. In his last visit to Kanpur in 2005, Woolmer had inaugurated a new operating theatre, which was once the labour room where he was born. The operating theatre was renamed in his honour. Woolmer, a classical batsman who played 19 tests for England during the late 1970s and early 1980s, pursued a successful coaching career with South Africa and Pakistan. He was regarded as one of the most innovative thinkers in the game but was expected to part company with Pakistan after the World Cup final on April 28 even before his team's shock loss to Ireland on Saturday.

ITN Source | March 20, 2007

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