Kingston

The body of slain Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer was released by a coroner and will be returned to his South African homeland. In the meantime, a coroner’s inquest scheduled to begin on Monday was postponed indefinitely because of undisclosed developments in the case.

Former New Zealand captain John Wright believes it would be a mistake to write off the Black Caps’ World Cup chances, despite their crushing defeat to Australia. Stephen Fleming’s men crashed to a 215-run defeat to the defending champions in their last Super Eights match on Friday.

Jamaican police investigating the killing of Pakistan’s coach at the Cricket World Cup have received results of toxicology tests but released no information about the findings on Saturday. ”We have received the toxicology report but we’re not going to go public with it right now,” Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Shields told reporters.

Four Scotland Yard detectives and two forensic experts from Interpol have arrived in Jamaica to help investigate the killing of Pakistan’s World Cup cricket coach after police turned up no suspects or motives. The Scotland Yard detectives, including a senior murder investigator, were briefed on Tuesday and will be reviewing security-camera footage.

Detectives leading the Bob Woolmer murder inquiry said on Monday they are studying the possibility that poison was used to incapacitate the burly Pakistan cricket coach before he was strangled. Jamaican police Deputy Commissioner Mark Shields said detectives were exploring whether the powerfully built Woolmer was drugged before being murdered.

Jamaican police were still looking at match-fixing on Monday as a possible motive for the murder of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer but have found no reference to it on his computer. The cricket world has been rife with speculation that the strangulation of one of the world’s best known cricket coaches involved cheating in matches.

A week after the murder of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer, Jamaican police sifted through security video for clues on Sunday. They denied any knowledge of a row reported in media involving Pakistani players and coaches after a shocking World Cup loss to Ireland.

Pakistan’s cricketers were expected to fly home from the World Cup later on Saturday with police denying rumours that arrests had been made over the murder of their coach Bob Woolmer. Two Pakistani team officials were staying behind in Jamaica when the team departed, primarily to deal with issues surrounding Woolmer, said Jamaica deputy police commissioner Mark Shields.

Shivnarine Chanderpaul struck an impressive unbeaten century as World Cup hosts West Indies beat surprise package Ireland by eight wickets in the final Group D match at Sabina Park on Friday. Ireland made 183 for eight in 48 overs after rain stopped play and under the Duckworth-Lewis rules West Indies were set a target of 190.

Pakistan’s World Cup players were being questioned on Thursday as the investigation into the death of Bob Woolmer became embroiled in a fevered round of speculation and denial. The questioning comes on the same day that two Jamaican newspapers claimed that 58-year-old Woolmer, who died on Sunday, had been strangled.

Former Irish Cricket Union president Robert Kerr died of a suspected heart attack in Jamaica on Wednesday, the second fatality in four days at the Cricket World Cup. Irish assistant coach Matt Dwyer said Kerr (68) died ”from what we believe was a heart attack”.

Dreadlocked Zimbabwe players have been ordered to cut off their flowing locks, it was reported on Wednesday. The Zimbabwe Cricket Union keen to improve its poor reputation, told at least three members of the squad — Tawanda Mupariwa, Keith Dabengwa and Stuart Matsinkenyeri — to conform with the ruling.

World Cup cricketers attempt to get back to competitive business on Monday, 24 hours after the tournament was rocked by the death of Pakistan’s coach Bob Woolmer and an England drinking scandal. India are aiming to bounce back from their surprise defeat to Bangladesh while hosts West Indies could book their place in the next stage of the competition.

Zimbabwe and Ireland played to a thrilling tie in a tense finish to their World Cup Group D match at Sabina Park in Kingston on Thursday. Opener Jeremy Bray carried his bat for an undefeated 115 off 137 balls, his second one-day international hundred, to give Ireland a sniff of a chance.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has teamed up with UNAids, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership at the Cricket World Cup 2007 to highlight the situation of children and young people living with and affected by HIV/Aids.

Under-strength Zimbabwe and debutants Ireland may look like a lightweight contest in a World Cup group which also includes mighty West Indies and Pakistan. But both need a win on Thursday if they are to have any hope of progressing in the tournament.