PAKISTAN: CRICKET - Foreign Office press conference on the death of the Pakistan national coach Bob Woolmer at the World Cup in Jamaica

Pakistan's cricket coach Bob Woolmer on Sunday (March 11) died in a Jamaican hospital at the age of 58 after being found unconscious in his hotel room. His death dominated the front pages of Pakistani newspapers on Monday (March 12). "Woolmer dies after shock defeat", "Dejected Woolmer dead", "Woolmer dead of heart attack after Pakistan's shameful defeat," were some of the banner headlines. The Foreign office said at its weekly briefing that Woolmer had endeared himself to Pakistanis during his three years as coach of the national team. "Its very sad. Mr. Bob Woolmer served Pakistan cricket very sincerely. He was a very dedicated coach, and, since 2004, his association with Pakistani cricket he had endeared himself to Pakistanis," Tasnim Aslam, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry told reporters. She said it was even more tragic that he died at a time when the team was not doing well. "We are very very sad to lose him, and that also at a time when our team wasn't doing well.Its very sad that he died after a very poor performance by the team and his life didn't end at a happy note," Aslam said. While Woolmer took criticism on the chin, he could not fathom the viciousness of the backlash and inevitable inquest about his cricketing credentials that followed almost every poor performance. The former England batsman, who was made coach in June 2004, never enjoyed a smooth ride with either the Pakistan team or cricket board, and had difficulty overcoming the handicap of being an outsider. Rumours of in-fighting surrounded the team before it went to the West Indies for the World Cup, and defeat by Ireland was seen by many Pakistanis as their team's just deserts. However even his worst critics have been shocked at Woolmer's sudden and unexpected death.

ITN Source | March 20, 2007

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