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Not horse racing I know, but I am just staggered and depressed to hear this news.
All Bears fans will know what a massive part Bob played in Warwickshire’s success in the 90’s and his subsequent achievements with South Africa. He took the fanatical demands of the Pakistan job with typical coolness.
This morning, I find myself ‘hoping’ that he was randomly murdered by some lunatic rather than the alternative, corruption-based or deranged fan theories.
It seems unlikely that any shady Asian syndicate would really be betting massive amounts on Pakistan to beat Ireland though (what price were they?) and even so, I spotted eleven more likely targets during that match.
Did he find out something corrupt and was about to blow the whistle? Worst still, was it someone close to, or inside, the Pakistan squad responsible?
We know how damaging corruption within racing has been, but this is potentially at a hideous new level altogether.
Mike<br>
Absolutely dreadful news.
There was apparently, no sign of a struggle in the hotel room so all of the evidence points to someone he knew.
The only reason the tournament won’t be cancelled now is money.
Quote: from betlarge on 9:35 am on Mar. 23, 2007[br]
<br>It seems unlikely that any shady Asian syndicate would really be betting massive amounts on Pakistan to beat Ireland though (what price were they?) and even so, I spotted eleven more likely targets during that match.
<br>
Would have thought they would be more likely to have backed Ireland rather than Pakistan.
<br>I know that there’s a lot of them flying around but I heard a rumour that it was the Pak v West Indies game that was fixed rather than the Ireland game.
Apparently some proofs from Woolmer’s upcoming book went missing earlier in the tournament so maybe he was about to blow the whistle….
Desperate news this is:o
I dont think that money has got anything to do with the continuation of this tournament, after an event such as this.
yes you did FSL, but not many people know where it is!!
Yes, this posting should really be down there and not in this section.
People do visit other parts of TRF in their numbers.
Feeling quite sick about it…
Im never one to get sentimental about those that have suddenly died, but he was one person in cricket who was always worth listening to or reading. A real thinker about this greatest of games and always interesting.
Seemed a really nice bloke too.
Aranalde I don’t see why the tournament should be cancelled, would Cheltenham have been cancelled if a trainer was murdered in his hotel room?
It will give you something else to blog about rather than corrupt jockeys.
I would qualify my earlier post by saying that if the death is related to match-fixing or corruption the tournament should be cancelled.
The only reason it would not be cancelled would be financial, since the ICC stand to lose tens of millions. I find the usual stuff about ‘its what he would have wanted’ a little self-serving.
(Edited by Aranalde at 4:49 pm on Mar. 23, 2007)
would Cheltenham have been cancelled if a trainer was murdered in his hotel room? <br>
If Paul Nicholls was murdered in his hotel room and Ruby Walsh, Tony McCoy and Mick Fitzgerald were all questioned by the police, then yes it should.
But this is more than a little hypothetical. I have written my thoughts at greater length (hopefully with more eloquence) on the blog below
Aranalde
Well written as usual but I can’t agree with it.
As it stands, we do not know for certain that Woolmer’s death was at the hand(s) of someone he knew, or even cricket related. It probably was, but not yet definitely.
Much has been made of the fact that Woolmer ‘opened his door’ to the killer(s) but, in a hotel full of teammates, journo’s, cleaning ladies, maids and room service, he would wouldn’t he? I really don’t see anything suspicious in that.
Were it to turn out that this was just a random act of violence, would we cancel the tournament? What if it had been the hotel manager murdered? Or a cleaner?
I think the situation needs to be reviewed on a day-to-day basis, but until we know the facts there is no option but to continue.
Your ‘it’s all down to money’ argument is a bit obvious. That is trotted out with tiresome monotony in the media, and it has some credence, but it’s also about politics, development, player’s careers, promotion, tourism, dreams, aspirations and the cricketing community worldwide.
“Frankly, if money is what matters then somebody write Malcolm Speed a cheque now and let everyone go home.â€ÂÂ
Yes the ending was a little ropey.
I think my real objection is not that the tournament hasn’t been cancelled already but to the fact that Speed has not even countenanced cancelling it and has talked about ‘moving on’. If it turns out to be non-cricket related, there might be a possibility of moving on but we aren’t there yet. Had he said something like, ‘we have no plans to stop the tournament at this stage but we are keeping a close eye on events’ that would have been preferable. As you say, a day to day monitoring of the situation is far more realistic than to talk about ‘moving on’.
Of course, boiling it down to money can appear a gross simplification and is not an elegant explanation. But really, that is the hard truth beneath a lot of softer justifications. The politics can be smoothed over, development will continue after a setback, careers too will recover and dreams and aspirations can be renewed. As for promoting cricket and the wider cricket community, I don’t really think World Cup 2007 is doing much for either of those causes right now.
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