The world of cricket still misses Bob Woolmer

Bob Woolmer

March 17, 2007 ICC World Cup: Bangladesh and Ireland had turned the world upside down by defeating two of the most lethal teams of world cricket. A spirited Bangladesh unit left India stunned at Trinidad while in Jamaica, Ireland made Saint Patrick’s Day very, very special by knocking Pakistan out of the World Cup with a sensational victory.

March 18, 2007 ICC World Cup: It was almost midnight in Dhaka. The flavour of Bangladesh’s victory had still not faded away. Before going to sleep, I switched on to TV to know whether there was any latest news on cricket or not. But, what I discovered was nothing but a shocker!

Almost every news channel’s ‘Breaking News’ had been: “Bob Woolmer dies in the hotel bathroom.” For a moment, it seemed that the world had stopped for me. Suddenly, my ecstatic mood ebbed away and I was gripped by deeper depressions. Bob Woolmer’s sudden death had jolted my world. A pall of gloom fell over the world cricket!

I was hit by a beamer, but tried to regain all my concentrations to follow every news bulletin. But my mind was cluttered.

Worse were the days that followed after his death. According to the print and electronic media, the Jamaican police had declared that Bob Woolmer was murdered! According to them, either Woolmer had been strangled or poisoned. Inevitably, there was assumed to be a connection with the Ireland result, especially given Pakistan’s past connection to match-fixing.

The Pakistani players fell under suspicions, and the furore spread across the planet, to countries that knew nothing about cricket. There were many contradictory speculations and things turned from ugly to uglier. After months of less-productive speculations, the Jamaican Police came to a conclusion that Woomer’s death had been natural.

As one of Woolmer’s ardent followers, I was not enjoying those speculations regarding his death. People were too much bothered with controversial issues rather than the great man’s contributions towards the game. People kept on unleashing new theories about his death from nowhere and created confusions for nothing.

Were all those necessary during such a tragic time?

While the world was busy with Bob Woolmer’s various death theories, I kept on thinking, how world cricket would be at a loss after his sad demise. For those cricket fans, who had followed cricket in the 90s, Bob Woolmer, alongside Allan Donald, Hansie Cronje and Jonty Rhodes, was a superstar as well. To that generation of fans, Bob Woolmer had been the first ever celebrity coach.

His unique methods about cricket coaching and in depth knowledge about the game were a big hit amongst the cricket followers of the 90s. The cricket followers of the 90s had witnessed how Woolmer transformed South Africa into a champion unit. His injection of technology-based coaching and more indulgence over fielding was highly appreciated during the 90s and still his various ideas are practiced by many.