Potentially the worst news in cricket history has emerged, which I say without exaggeration. Police in Jamaica have now stated that the autopsy revealed that Bob Woolmer was murdered.
There are three likely scenarios:
(1) A bookmaker had Woolmer killed either (a) in order to prevent him revealing match-fixing scandals, or (b) in revenge at Woolmer not joining in or failing to fulfil his side of the bargain; or
(2) a disgruntled fan (or even, I suppose, a team member) killed Woolmer out of anger, perhaps fuelled by losing a lot of money that was bet on the result; or
(3) the murder was not related to cricket at all but some other dealings in which Woolmer was involved.
It seems to me that (1)(a) is the most probable, though of course I have no evidence. The question now is whether the tournament should continue. If Woolmer's death was an accident, then of course it should continue. Perhaps it could be fashioned partly as a tribute to him, by passing the hat around the winning team for one of Woolmer's favourite charities, for example. But if Woolmer was murdered by bookmakers then the tournament - and possibly all of one day cricket and even test cricket - will have lost all credibility. Immediately questions will be asked about every single surprise result, and not just in the World Cup, but every match, from those with the significance of the Adelaide test last year to the most mundane one day contest between minnnow sides.
That said, the culprits have not been identified, and so I don't think the tournament should be called off - yet. One could play the part of the amateur Sherlock and observe that there was no forced entry and no sign of a struggle. The murderer(s) was either someone Woolmer trusted or who he thought was properly coming to his room (room service, as it usually is in the movies). He was either drugged or the killer was an expert in hand-to-hand combat. It would seem to have been a very professional 'hit'. I will leave the speculation there.
It now seems pointless and lame, to say the least, to publish the post I had composed saying that the tournament was entering the interesting phase, with England having to win against Kenya, India needing to beat Sri Lanka (they'll need some luck given the Lankan's form the other day against Bangladesh) and the two giants, Australia and South Africa, about to exchange blows tomorrow. I will still watch the games. But for how much longer?
Friday, March 23, 2007
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4 comments:
It's absolutely shocking the confirmation that Woolmer was killed... Cricket has fast ceased to be game, don't you think so... esp in India and Pak...
Hello Pradeep, thanks for stopping by. I agree with every word. The only comfort is that if baseball survived the 1919 scandal, athletics the 1980s doping scandals and horse-racing the almost continuous scandals, then I guess cricket will muddle through one way or another.
Certainly, it has long since stopped being just a game. I don't have much faith in the ICC changing things ...
PU: unbelievable. I am afraid this highlights that sport cannot be anything but inextricably linked with crime (in the case of cricket, bookie/gangsters from the sub-continent) and politics (e.g., Zimbabwe). Colombian goalkeeper was murdered after the '94 football world cup.
For what it's worth and I know speculation does not assist at all, but if the Paksters did 'drop' either of their first two encounters in this world cup I would think it is because their families were probably threatened back home by gangsters for whom money is God. One also has to ask if India threw their match against Bangladesh.
I do not for one moment entertain the idea that any on-field player was responsible for this horrific and trafic death. My thoughts are with Mrs Woolmer and her sons.
PU: TMS just featured an interview of Tim Noakes (BW's co-author) by Aggers. The book is a cricket-coaching philosophy and the only contentious item in it would be their opinion that Bradman was the best batsman ever and batsmen should consider following the Don's technique.
Another point made by Tim was that BW enjoyed coaching in and the Pakistan team (he was no stranger on the sub-continent, born in Kanpur), and may have perhaps later written about his experience. But there was no second book nor any intention to shop any cricketers.
Tim stated BW was a circumspect kind of guy and felt any nefarious involvement was external to cricket and was a disease. No point in apportioning blame to any cricketers.
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