Pak coach Woolmer dies in Jamaica hospital
Bob Woolmer took over as Pakistan coach in June 2004.
KINGSTON, March 18: Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer died in mysterious circumstances on Sunday, just one day after his team was thrown out of the World Cup by minnows Ireland.
Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room at 1045 local time, with signs of vomit on the floor. He was rushed to the nearby university hospital but failed to regain consciousness despite being in the emergency ward for close to three hours.
The 58-year-old Englishman has been under tremendous pressure over the last few weeks with rumours of rifts and infighting within the team.
His troubled tenure was expected to come to an end after the World Cup.
Woolmer, who took charge of the Pakistan team in 2004, was seen late on Saturday night, but officials raised an alarm after not seeing him early on Sunday.
When they went to his hotel room, they saw he was unconscious.
Pakistan team manager Talat Ali, their South Africa-based trainer Murray Stevenson and assistant manager Asad Mustafa went with Woolmer to the hospital where he was given medical attention.
Woolmer was last seen in public when he addressed the post-match media conference after his team's defeat to Ireland at Sabina Park.
He indicated his side's performance ranked pretty highly as one of the worse days of his life as a coach.
"I think the worse was at Edgbaston in 1999 (when he was South Africa's coach in a losing semifinal to Australia), but I think it is important that I remember however, that this is a game, and in a game, things like this happen," he said.
"As for my future as a coach, this is what I do best, and I am not going to, therefore, throw away coaching.
"Doing it internationally, it takes a toll on you - the endless travelling and the non-stop living out of hotels."
Woolmer had no excuses to make about his side's performance in the competition.
"I think we have a good team in this World Cup, but we have not played as well as we should have, or could have.
"Quite frankly, a lot of credit must be given to Ireland, and a lot of credit should be given to the ICC's High Performance Programme, and we deserve to take stick because we have not performed."
Anupamaa
0