Wife: It Could Have Been Murder

Mar 22, 07:09 PM

Current Headlines: LONDON: Gill Woolmer, wife of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer who died in Jamaica on Sunday, said yesterday she had not ruled out the possibility that her husband had been murdered.

Jamaican police said on Tuesday that the 58-year-old's death was being treated as "suspicious".

Former England batsman Woolmer was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room less than 24 hours after Pakistan's shock World Cup defeat by Ireland which knocked them out of the tournament. He was pronounced dead in hospital later that day.

"I suppose there is always the possibility, I mean some of the cricket fraternity fans are extremely volatile and passionate about the game and about what happens in the game... so I suppose there is always the possibility that it could be that (murder)," she said in an interview with Sky Sports.

"It fills me with horror. I just can't believe that people would behave like that or that anyone would want to harm someone who has done such a great service to international cricket."

A statement from Jamaican police on Wednesday said that a second pathologist's opinion was being sought.

"Following consultations today involving representatives from the government of Jamaica and the police, a decision was taken to seek the opinion of a second pathologist," police spokesman Karl Angell said in the statement.

"Arrangements are currently being made to engage the services of this pathologist."

Gill Woolmer said in the Sky interview her husband was "depressed" after Pakistan's defeat but ruled out suicide, adding that he was fit and had been trying to lose weight because of diabetes.

"He was very depressed and he sent me an email to that effect, but he always got depressed and down when the boys didn't do as he expected and hoped," she said.

"But that was normal in any competition, he was a very competitive person. But there's no way that suicide was involved, he would never ever..."

Conspiracy theories have abounded since Woolmer's death, with claims in some media that he had been murdered by a match-fixing syndicate.

Tearful farewell

Inzamam-ul-Haq ended his tenure as captain with a tearful farewell in Pakistan's emotional final match at the World Cup.

The 37-year-old contributed a fluent 37 off 35 balls as his side honored the memory of Woolmer with a convincing 93-run victory over Zimbabwe.

Inzamam, one of only four players in the tournament to have played every World Cup since 1992, left the field in tears after being given a guard of honor by his teammates.

"First of all, thanks to Bob, we dedicate this to Bob because he was a wonderful person, an elder for us and he's not in this world now," the well-respected Inzamam said, again choking back tears.

The right-handed batsman notched 11,739 runs at an average of 39.52 in 378 one-dayers, behind only India's Sachin Tendulkar.

Agencies

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