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Pakistan World Cup coach dies

Bob Woolmer dies in hospital hours after Pakistan are knocked out of the World Cup.

Bob Woolmer, Pakistan cricket coach
Bob Woolmer, left, was appointed coach of Pakistan in 2004 [AFP]
Published On 19 Mar 2007
“Bob’s family and wife were informed by the team management about Bob’s condition when he was brought to hospital,” Mir added.

Shock defeat

Pakistan were knocked out of the World Cup on Saturday after a shock three-wicket defeat by Ireland.

After the defeat Woolmer had spoken about the disappointment that he felt and the stress that being a cricket coach had put on his life.

 
Bob Woolmer’s career

International career:
1975: Test debut for England
1975: Voted Wisden cricketer of the year
1981: Played last test for England
Tests: 19
Runs: 1,059
Highest score: 149
Average: 33.09
100s: 3
Wickets: 4
  
Coaching career:
1991: Becomes director of coaching at Warwickshire.
1993: Warwickshire win NatWest Trophy.
1994: Warwickshire win three out of four trophies and are runners up in the NatWest series. Appointed coach of South Africa.
1999: Leaves South Africa job after team fails to make World Cup final
2001: Joins ICC as high performance manager.
2004: Announced as new coach of Pakistan

“Doing it internationally, it takes a toll on you – the endless travelling and the non-stop living out of hotels,” he said on Saturday.

“Bob was a wonderful man, a wonderful cricket coach and he had a great cricket brain,” Allan Lamb, former England captain and a close friend of Woolmer, told Al Jazeera.

“It wasn’t long ago I saw Bob … last year when Pakistan were touring I was in the dressing room with him and he seemed full of life and he looked fine, it’s such a great shock.”

Clive Lloyd, who led the West Indies to the first World Cup title in 1975 and is manager of the current team, said Woolmer “was a great guy and a really great coach”.

“It’s sad that such a tragedy should take place in the World Cup – I feel sad for his family.” he added.

England Test player

Woolmer played for Kent in the English county championship and represented England at Test level 19 times but it was as a coach that he really made his mark.

 
His coaching career started at Warwickshire, and the string of trophies he won with them in the early 1990s led to him being appointed as national coach of South Africa in 1994.

He left the South African role after they failed to reach the World Cup final in 1999.

Woolmer had a spell as the ICC’s high-performance manager before he was announced as Pakistan’s new coach in June 2004, signing a contract to remain with them until the 2007 World Cup. 

Pakistan’s form leading up to the tournament was poor, and when they lost their first two matches it appeared unlikely that his tenure would be extended. He had been mentioned as a possible successor to Duncan Fletcher as England coach.

Pakistan can not progress from the group stage, but face Zimbabwe on Wednesday in their final World Cup match.

Source: News Agencies