Woolmer: New twist as his book goes missing

[DesiChap]

25 March 2007 ?Regardless of the money the story is worth telling and has to be told and in the correct way? Speculation grows that former SA coach was about to lift the lid on match-fixing A Pakistani cricket official has revealed how coach Bob Woolmer became ?worried? and expressed ?concern? when the manuscript of a book he was writing went missing days before his murder in a Jamaican hotel last Sunday. But Pakistan team spokesman, JP Mir told the Sunday Times yesterday that Woolmer had not spoken to him about the contents of the book. ?I don?t know from where, but [it] had gone missing. I don?t know what book it was. I have no idea what the contents were because I didn?t ask him. It was just a concern. I saw Mr Woolmer standing outside the hotel and he looked worried,? Mir said. Mir?s revelations have fuelled speculation that Woolmer was murdered because he was about to expose corrupt betting in cricket. More than R28-billion is expected to be wagered on World Cup games, say Indian bookmakers. Woolmer died within 24 hours of his team?s shock defeat against Ireland. With the odds at 1 to 25, a punter could have won R1.1-million had he taken a R70 000 bet on Ireland. Only the bravest punters ? or those in the know through crooked dealings ? would have chanced such a bet. Woolmer was also planning a second book, focusing on his time as coach of Pakistan, which was marked by several public scandals over drug abuse and ill-discipline in the team. Osman Samiuddin, Pakistan?s editor of cricket website cricinfo.com confirmed that Woolmer had e-mailed him on September 18 last year about the book. ?I shall only start [the book] after the World Cup, but I need to show a lot of different perspectives and the culture correctly, which is where I had hoped you would come in,? Woolmer wrote to Samsiuddin. ?I believe regardless of the money the story is worth telling and has to be told and in the correct way. ?I am not a name-and-shame guy just the honest facts. Let the punter make up his mind, etc.? Yesterday Samsiuddin said he and Woolmer had agreed to work together on the book, but in an article posted on his website, Samsiuddin poured cold water on speculation that the book would make damning revelations about match-fixing. Meanwhile, the Woolmer family home in Cape Town resembled a crime scene on Friday as police cordoned it off to keep the media away from the grieving family. Yesterday Woolmer?s eldest son Dale said that the family were waiting anxiously for his father?s body to arrive in South Africa. ?There is the anxiety of waiting for the body to come back because now it?s not being allowed,? he said adding that his family was in the dark about specifics in the murder investigation. ?To be honest with you we don?t know [anything]. We know as much as what is on Sky News. ? The family had earlier issued a brief statement through Woolmer?s friend and manager, Michael Cohen. ?To the best of the family?s knowledge there is absolutely nothing to suggest Bob was involved in match fixing, and contrary to reports we can confirm there is nothing in any book Bob has written that would explain the situation and there were no threats received.? Although he never testified at South Africa?s King Commission of inquiry in 2002 into match fixing in cricket, Woolmer, who was SA cricket coach from 1994 to 1999, was seen by many insiders as having further information. Former SA Test cricketer Clive Rice said yesterday Woolmer confided in him in 2000 during an English county match between Nottinghamshire and Warwickshire ? where they were the respective coaches. When asked for details of the conversation, Rice said that Woolmer had ?named names? but declined to elaborate, saying: ?No, because I?d probably join Bob ? and Hansie for that matter.? Woolmer?s body remains in Jamaica after the coroner for Kingston and St Andrew, Patrick Murphy ordered an inquest into his death. The Jamaican authorities had earlier taken DNA samples from the entire Pakistan delegation and were also scheduled to take swabs from everyone who occupied the 12th floor of the hotel at the time of Woolmer?s death. This includes West Indies captain Brian Lara, whose room was across the hall from the one where Woolmer?s body was found. However, at this stage the DNA samples were merely being taken to assist the police in a process of elimination. Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf this week conferred the country?s prestigious Sitara-i- Imtiaz civil award on Woolmer in recognition of his contribution to sport. Most of the bets on this year?s World Cup would be struck by gamblers from the Indian subcontinent, where illegal betting syndicates are flourishing. South African bookies said yesterday that there had been ?no untoward betting trends? in this year?s cricket World Cup. ?But South Africa is small fry compared to what is happening in Pakistan and India,? said a Johannesburg bookie, who did not want to be identified. Disgraced former Proteas captain Hansie Cronj?, who died in a plane crash in June 2002, was taped in conversation with a bookie in the UK while on tour to India . The resulting scandal, the biggest to hit international cricket, led to the King Commission of Inquiry at which evidence led on the operations of cricket betting systems. These included spread betting ? a wager on the number of runs, within a spread of, say, 10 runs that a batting side is going to score, which can change as the innings progresses. It can also involve the scores of individual batsmen. A variation is to bet on the number of runs a side will make in the first 15 overs of an one-day international. ? Additional reporting by Prega Govender, Lauren Cohen and Buyekezwa Makwabe

[Gaurav]

Re: Woolmer: New twist as his book goes missing

Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf this week conferred the country?s prestigious Sitara-i- Imtiaz civil award on Woolmer in recognition of his contribution to sport.

Still can't get over how quickly this award was given. Dal mein kuch kalla hai :chin: