Bob WOOLMER

Bob Woolmer was born in Kanpur, India, and his father played first class cricket for Uttar Pradesh. He started playing for Kent in 1968, but had few chances with the bat in a side full of Test players and he developed as a medium-pace bowler and lower order batsman at his best in one day cricket. In 1972 he was the first person to be chosen as a one-day specialist, appearing in ODIs against Australia, taking 3-33 at Old Trafford. He was not successful enough to find a place in the 1975 World Cup side, but was chosen as a bowler in the Tests that followed. He scored 33 and 31 at number eight and had Ross Edwards caught lbw on 99, but by the last Test of that series against Australia he was being chosen as a specialist batsman.

His 149 at the Oval, which lasted more than six hours, saved the match for England. Against West Indies in 1976 he made 82 in the first Test and was promoted to opening bat. He opened in the Centenary Test in Melbourne, scoring 9 and 12, but his runs in 1977 - 79 and 120 at Lord's, 137 at Old Trafford - were an important part of England's Ashes victory. Woolmer joined World Series Cricket, but played in none of the big matches. He returned to the England side in 1980, scoring 46 at Trent Bridge and played again in 1981 before making way for the return of Mike Brearley. Woolmer went to South Africa with the rebel England team of 1981-82, scoring 100 against South Africa in the unofficial Test in Durban. (Bob Harragan)

On 18 March 2007, Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica. The initial report was that Woolmer had died of a heart attack. On 22 March, Jamaican police confirmed that a murder investigation had been launched due to the circumstances of Woolmer's death, based on a report by pathologist Ere Seshaiah that Woolmer had died of asphyxia via manual strangulation. Deputy Police Commissioner Mark Shields led the investigation.   Police suspected that the murderer might have been a Pakistani upset over Pakistan's recent defeat by Ireland in the World Cup.

On 12 June 2007, Lucius Thomas, the commissioner of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, announced that the investigation had concluded that Bob Woolmer died of natural causes, and was not murdered as indicated by the earlier pathologist's report. Three independent pathologists' reports commissioned by the police had found that the initial conclusion of manual strangulation was incorrect, and toxicology tests found no evidence of poisoning.  The findings of the pathologists, and of Metropolitan Police detectives who had visited Jamaica to assist with the investigation, were reported in the weeks leading up to the announcement, which was widely expected by the time it was made. Reports suggested that Woolmer suffered from health problems including an enlarged heart and diabetes, which may have contributed to his death.

On 6 November, coroner Patrick Murphy asked for further tests to be carried out on samples taken from Woolmer's body following discrepancies in the toxicology reports by forensic scientists from the Caribbean and the UK.

In an interview with Fox News, former South African cricketer Clive Rice claimed that Woolmer was murdered by organised crime groups, saying “These mafia betting syndicates do not stop at anything and they do not care who gets in their way.” .

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