“Asphyxia as a result of manual strangulation”.
This one line, a conclusion reached by a pathologist, sent the cricketing world into a tizzy while it was still coming to terms with the death of acclaimed coach Bob Woolmer during the 50-over World Cup in the West Indies on this day 19 years ago.
The sentence, attributed to Dr Ere Seshaiah, led to all sorts of speculation about foul play and coming the day after the Pakistan team, which Woolmer was in charge of at the time, going down to Ireland, had tongues wagging. In fact, then-skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq subsequently described that even the players were not considered above suspicion in the subsequent murder investigation.
“What happened after Bob Woolmer’s death, and how we were treated with suspicion and put away in isolation, I cannot forget nor forgive. The effect of the tragic loss of our coach was indescribable… but we couldn’t grieve because we were treated like suspects,” Inzamam said.
In fact, with both Pakistan and India exiting the tournament at the preliminary group stage itself, the probe into the death of the celebrated coach became the most followed story of the World Cup, even as Australia proceeded on its predictable path to win a hat-trick of titles, what seemed like, an eternity later.
It made Kingston, Jamaica’s deputy police commissioner Mark Shields one of the most sought-after people during a cricket tournament with journalists from around the world following every little development in the case.
It was only on June 12, long after the World Cup had got over that the case was closed with the Jamaica Constabulary Force concluding, based on independent pathologists’ reports and toxicology tests, that Woolmer died of natural causes. It was confirmed that there was no foul play in the death of the former England batsman and coach – often at the cutting edge of innovations in the game – at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel and the likely cause was cardiac failure.
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But the matter didn’t end there. In November that year, coroner Patrick Murphy asked for further tests to be carried out after some discrepancies were cited in the toxicology reports. The jury, after hearing evidence for almost a month, returned an open verdict, refusing to rule out the strangulation theory.
With betting, match-fixing and other misdemeanours always floating beneath the cricketing surface in those days, Woolmer’s death was predictably linked to some sort of corruption in the game, and a few former players didn’t hide their suspicions. That the crime, and murder rate, in Kingston was one of the highest in the world provided another juicy angle to headline-seekers.
“These mafia betting syndicates do not stop at anything and they do not care who gets in their way,” former South Africa all-rounder Clive Rice said.
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Former Australia captain Ian Chappell had “doubts that he (Woolmer) died of natural causes” and that the deceased may have been about to reveal “some misgivings.”
Key accounts
Events leading up to the death gave different slants to the case. Paul Newman, writing for Wisden, quoted Deirdre Harvey, the waitress who brought Woolmer his last meal.
“His eyes were red, like somebody who had been crying.”
However, the BBC Radio’s Alison Mitchell had a different take.
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“Bob did not look like a man who was unduly stressed. And he didn’t appear ill,” she was quoted as saying.
Bob Woolmer with Younis Khan. (Express File)
In the hotel, Woolmer’s room was next to leg-spinner Danish Kaneria’s, with Brian Lara occupying one across the corridor.
“He was coughing all the way back to the hotel,” recalled Bertram Carr, who drove the Pakistan team bus after the Ireland game.
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According to Wisden, the jury heard that Woolmer’s body had been found slumped against the bathroom door with his back against it: impossible for anyone to have strangled him then got out. Also, no cypermethrin – a fast-acting synthetic pesticide – was found in his blood, nor was there any poison. That he suffered from type-2 diabetes and high blood pressure may have had something to do with his demise, especially after such a stressful time over the previous 24 hours. According to The Guardian, Woolmer also had respiratory problems that he sometimes eased by wearing a breathing mask.
The general consensus is that it was a tragedy of a previously unwell man dying alone in a hotel room in a foreign country while there were cricket fans baying for his blood in the country whose team he had been coaching.
There may not have been any foul play in Woolmer’s death but it was the lowest point in a tournament supposed to be a celebration of cricket. How the death was handled, the shoddy investigation and pointing the needle of suspicion at all and sundry only worsened the taste in the mouth.
