The murder in his Jamaican hotel room of the British-born coach of the Pakistan cricket team has cast a deep pall of gloom over the cricket World Cup. Though there remains an outside chance this crime was entirely unrelated to the sport, the strong suspicion is the killing of Bob Woolmer was connected in some way with cricket.
The slaying took place only hours after the remarkable defeat of the Pakistan side — the world’s No. 4 — by the Irish team making its very first appearance in the competition. This upset released distasteful passions back in Pakistan where demonstrators actually called for the hanging of team captain Inzamam-ul-Haq as well as coach Woolmer.
That a Pakistani supporter or supporters — the Jamaican police believe there may have been more than one attacker — might have actually wreaked such revenge is appalling. Police have interviewed all members of the Pakistan squad and its officials. Now out of the competition, they are due to fly home today. If the Jamaican police seek to have the team stay in the West Indies while their inquiries continue, the scandal will only deepen.
Woolmer was a widely respected and successful member of the international cricketing establishment, who had previously coached the South African team. He was reportedly planning to write a book exposing match-fixing, which has so disfigured the sport in recent years. There is therefore speculation that his killers were seeking to silence him. They may have seized the opportunity presented by Pakistan’s defeat to commit the crime and so cast suspicion on angry supporters.
Whatever the final conclusions of the police inquiry, one thing is already patently clear: Cricket, once a game where the taking part was more important than the winning, is being dragged into the mud by high-pressure commercial exploitation. Big money has already distorted the values and pleasure of football. Cricket must not be allowed to go the same way. It has in the past proved itself a considerable force for good. The Indian Test tour of Pakistan in 2004 was one of the first steps in the rapprochement between the two nuclear states. Even though Pakistan lost that series, local cricket fans were enthusiastic about the games because of the outstanding quality of the cricket played by both sides. That is what this uniquely absorbing sport should be all about. A five-day Test match is an engrossing battle in which rival captains deploy their assets as cleverly as they can. On the pitch neither side gives any quarter, but once stumps are drawn both teams generally socialize and many lasting friendships are formed.
The modern transformation of cricketing stars into national heroes has a distinctly dark side. What young person contemplating a professional cricketing career will not be alarmed by the thought that if he fails, maniacal supporters might bay for his life? If Woolmer’s murder happened like this, it would be a terrible tragedy for a wonderful game.
