The Day We Killed Bob Woolmer

Well im not sure how much woolmer contributed towards pakistani cricket, considering that a number of changes are expected once the team reaches pakistan, but yes his contribution towards cricket in general is immense.
as for woolmer being poisoned (by whom? a ninja maybe, dressed in black, coming out of the shadows?) well that seems far fetched to me, but i would not be surprised if it turns out to be a case of OD
maybe he drank a bit too much and popped a couple of sleeping pills to help him relax and that had a violent and destructive reaction.
whatevr, one thing is for sure, it is a sad day in the history of pakistani cricket.

The other thing which would have taken a toll on Woolmer is that our entire cricket board is run on an ad-hoc basis, there is no permanent set of rules being followed and no democracy at all.

Woolmer`s frequent tussles with the board cost him his life. The PCB`s arrogant mistakes are the ones which took Woolmer`s life. The PCB should have already acknowledged that he is not the man for Pakistan. The politico-bureaucrat-soldiers of the PCB, i.e. Tauqeer Zia, Sheryar Khan and Naseem Ashraf, along with their supporters down the authoritative heirarchy, are responsible for the alleged poisoning of a cricket genius!

Whatever it may be... Giving a fit and final vrdict on Bob Woolmer right now, is too early. True, his contribution to the game of cricket has been immense. South Africa has evolved as a strong team and they are largely indebted to Mr. Woolmer for that.

But wait a minute, even before appointing bob Woolmer, the PCB should have taken some historical aspects in mind. First is that Pakistan has never performed well when they have had foreign coaches. What happened with Richard Pybus?? Geoffery Boycott was hired for a mere fifteen days as a coach ahead of Pakistan`s last tour to New Zealand, except for that one face saving double century of Mohammed Yousuf (then Yousuf Youhanna), nothing on the tour went (even remotely) Pakistan`s way. Boycott was paid fifteen thousand pounds for those fifteen days!!!!

If Pakistan has ever performed, then that has only been when the entire hierarchy is composed of retired Pakistani cricketers. Throughout the 1970s, until the cricket coup led by Mr. Tauqeer Zia, Pakistan`s performance was generally good. This was not only because we had had fighting champions like Imran Khan, JAved Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saeed Anwar and Moin Khan (whome I consider to be better than Rashid Latif), but also to the top PCb hierarchy which had seen people like Zaheer Abbas, Haroon Rasheed, Asif Iqbal, Wasim Bari and Majid Khan at the top hierarchical levels. No wonder we did not have a full-time coach at the time when we qualified for the World Cup finals of 1992 and 1999.


It was by and large PCB`s mistake to ignore the fact cricket comes naturally to Pakistanis, just as Soccer comes naturally to the Brasilians. Keeping this reality in mind, the board should have known that foreign coaches have always aggravated our problems and made our issues more complicated rather than trying to solve them. The board should have realised that those thousands of pounds would have been better utilised if they would have been used to fund domestic cricket and local cricket academies like the one of Rashid Latif. Everyone knows about how domestic cricket is dealt with. The board should have known that our players only do well when their coaches are renowned, but retired Pakistani cricketers. Why does the board/President not look forward to offer contracts to Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Asif Iqbal, Majid Khan, Saeed Anwar (ignoring his tilt towards religion), Javed Miandad, Ramiz Raja, etc. not only as coaches, but also in the senior positions of our cricket board?

People should hold their verdict on something serious like the death of this gentleman Mr. Woolmer until at least the autopsy results are available. The author could have written a dignified, sentimental article emphasizing the positives of Mr. Woolmer, as indeed he did for most of this piece – but chose to spoil it in the end by falling prey to that peculiar “Pakistani” weakness for meaningless theatrics and by trying to invent justifications for his own sensational headline whose captive he became!

#53 by adarang on March 19, 2007 4:25pm PT


But loosers like you who are probably living on charity in India (jo jisnay pheka khaliya)
would always be loosers.


I`m sure Indians can be charitable and donate a dictionary to pakis who obviously need one...you seem to have loost yours....

Re: # 58
Yeah I did loose it Arjun. After Hindus got eliminated from the world cup after a crushing defeat by the Bengalis, I was so happy, I got hold of a smelly hindu in my area and shoved the dictionary up his.....
And Hindus cannot donate anything to Pakistan. We ruled your smelly @ss country for a long time. Made your grand-fathers scrub our floors and your moms, warm our beds for us. You are just vermin. And vermin you shall be!

Re: # 179

hee hee adarang.I love this kind of low grade humour ;-)

#55 by okhla99 on March 19, 2007 7:15pm PT

If the match was set, the people who ``set`` it are sure to have made a lot of money betting against Pakiland...the ``setters`` never lose...that`s the whole point...

My good friend K-A from India has some interesting insights to share about our cricket mania. The following is from an email he sent to me on the day Pakistan and India lost their respective World Cup games to the Irish and Bangladesh teams. Hope you folks will find it interesting.

-- Essensaur


de Clerambault`s syndrome and India’s Cricket fans

We often read in Indian papers that a boy has made advances towards a girl, claiming eternal love and, on being rejected, has thrown acid on her. This is a strange kind of love. Either you love someone or you do not, one would think. And, if you do love someone, throwing acid is surely not the way to prove it. However, the behaviour of our cricket fans proves that it is possible to love and not to love at the same time. This is the most selfish love of all, which says, I adore you but if you do not meet my expectations, I am willing to do violence towards you.

The psychologists have a word for something very similar. It is delusional erotomania or de Clerambault’s syndrome named after Gaetan Gatian de Clerambault. The behaviour of our cricket fans is very akin to borderline erotomania. In this, no delusion is present but an extreme attachment is apparent in pursuit of the love-object. This also has potential for violence if this love is unrequited.

To a great extent, India (and, for that matter, Pakistan’s) cricket fans can be likened to stalkers. It is not physical stalking, of course, but stalking through the device of modern media, conveniently indulged in while sitting at home. We live and breathe our beloved cricket and cricketers. Talking heads on TV go on and on incessantly about relevant and irrelevant details before, during and after every match. Our cricket stars, through their antics, endorsements and larger than life image, play the role of a scantily clad woman who cannot be blamed for the stalking but who does tend up exciting the passions unduly.

The result is that when the Indian cricket team performs well the fans are almost orgasmic in their excitement. We see the players mobbed, fireworks lit and holidays declared. When the cricket team loses, we burn effigies and threaten to do violence to the players. This, indeed is borderline erotomania.

If we are truly in love, we do not stop loving someone if he or she falls ill, or has a bad day. We offer a lending hand and are supportive so that the object of our affection can do better. If we really cared for Indian cricket and not for our own short-term till-the-next-match fix, we would support our Indian team through thick and thin. Then it would be true love. Till this happens, we should not delude ourselves by thinking that we love cricket. We only love the high that comes from winning, even if it is winning by proxy and our only contribution has been to use our TV remote control.

Re: # 56

Wow.Great read.Cricket mania=Borderline erotomania.

Boy Loves girl.If girl rejects Boy throws acid on her face.Excellent read Essensaur

Re: # 56

Great read Ess. Does your friend have a name? He seems like a smart fella...

The betting angle will probably never be explored. A whole bunch of people lost a LOT of money when Pakistan did a ``Sub se pehlay`` exit from the world cup. FInancial ruin can also cause a lot of stress.

On Naseem Ashraff: If its an Official News thn I don`t think he has resigned mainly because of the performance of our team, as today he himself said on a local tv channel that he did`nt want to bring changes just before the World-cup, and that he should be given time to improve. The reason for his resignation is Bob Woolmer, chiefly because I guess he`s more concerned about the Autopsy Report, one never knows, sorry If I am bringing up the issue of conspircy again, but still, how coward, running away from the whole Issue of his death.

Bet, if woolmer hadnt died, I am sure, this guy would`ve never resigned

---

not atleast on the performance let alone since he became Chairman few months ago.

[Discipline was Pakistan’s problem and will be for years to come. The fact that the majority of the team has never had a complete education (academic or otherwise) explains their erratic behavior. With discipline comes composure. And with composure, you don’t chase wild deliveries outside off when your side is struggling to put up a total! With that said, Bob Woolmer could not be blamed wholly for Pakistan’s demise. ]

Very well said!

I must have written a slightly emotional article. But I don`t mean to raise the issue of how Bob died. But instead want to celebrate how he lived. Dont want to start any conspiracy. Nasim Ashraf has resigned. That fucker, along with other PCB money hungry mongrels should be taken out for an afternoon of electric shock. Once we have a proper organization in place for our cricket we won`t have such irresponsible behavior ever again. And it is true. We are all responsible for Bob`s death. Why didn`t we speak up before?? We are to blame. If you were Bob`s son or wife what would you think. Wake up PCB and Pakistan Cricket... you are murderers.

Re: # 49

Well said about that chamcha Nasim Ashraf; what an incompetent piece of....