Pakistan’s cricket chief said on Wednesday it was time for the national team to move on after Jamaican police revealed that coach Bob Woolmer was not murdered after all, and died of natural causes.
Nasim Ashraf, chairperson of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), said he was glad to see the end of a ”traumatic” three months that began when Woolmer’s body was found in his hotel at the World Cup in the Caribbean.
”The chapter of Woolmer’s death is closed and we feel it’s time to move on,” Ashraf told Agence France-Presse in his first comments since the announcement by Jamaican police late on Tuesday.
Former England Test batsman Woolmer (58) died on March 18, the day after 1992 world champions Pakistan were ousted from the 2007 edition by rank outsiders Ireland.
Days later police announced they were treating the case as murder, saying an autopsy report showed he had been strangled.
Speculation swirled about links to a ”match-fixing mafia”.
Pakistan’s World Cup squad was extensively interrogated, players were finger-printed and DNA-tested with then-captain Inzamam-ul-Haq and bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed questioned twice.
Cricket legend-turned-politician Imran Khan and some current players have called for the PCB to sue the Caribbean investigators because of the way the Pakistani team and the country were cast in a bad light.
But Ashraf — who resigned after the World Cup debacle but was asked to stay on by President Pervez Musharraf — appeared to rule out taking any legal action.
”I have given you Pakistan’s stance and I don’t want to comment on what individuals say,” Ashraf said when asked if the PCB would take the Jamaican police to court.
The cricket board chairperson said the case was made more difficult by ”hurtful” speculation in the media, which threw allegations about gambling, poisoned champagne and even al-Qaeda into the mix.
”There was a lot of unhealthy speculation about the cause of his death over the last few months, none of which eased the pressure,” said Ashraf.
Ashraf said Pakistan fully cooperated with the Jamaican authorities.
”We fully cooperated with the authorities so that the truth comes out in the case, [we] sent our diplomats and investigators to help them and we are now glad that the true findings have come out,” he said.
The PCB head said that Pakistan was naming the training facilities at its national cricket academy after Woolmer to honour his memory.
”Woolmer was literally a family member to us and we will always remember his services to Pakistan cricket,” said Ashraf.
”I personally went to Cape Town to his funeral and consoled with his widow Gill and will continue to remember Woolmer as a great friend of Pakistan cricket.”
Looking to the future, Ashraf said Pakistan was rebuilding its side, which has also been hit by a series of crises over the past year including the Oval Test fiasco and a doping scandal.
The Test match last year at the Oval against England was declared forfeit by the umpires after the Pakistan players stayed in their dressing room after the tea interval in protest at a five-run penalty for alleged ball tampering.
Young Shoaib Malik has replaced Inzamam as captain to give the team a fresh start. The PCB is also nearing the end of an international hunt for a new coach. – Sapa-AFP