The cricket world was shocked to learn of Bob Woolmer's sudden death in Jamaica, a day after Pakistan's early exit from the World Cup. The tributes have started coming in.
"The news was pretty devastating, to be honest. He was a very, very close friend, actually more than as a coach.... He was a very respected man. We were together with Warwickshire and South Africa. Bob was an extremely professional man, was an extremely soft person, gave his life to cricket and probably paid for it." Allan Donald
"I am shocked and badly hurt. We have lost a good coach and a good person."Inzamam-ul-Haq
"We are all greatly saddened by Bob Woolmer's passing. He was a great cricket man. His life was devoted to cricket."Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the ICC
"He was a great lad, a great motivator. He was a bit eccentric at times but it is a terrible loss. I remember going to his house in Cape Town and many years ago he showed me his work room. He had everything on computers even then. This was before the technology was readily available and he showed me how he was going to monitor things and study each player's performance. He was one of the first to really work on the reverse-sweep shot, he probably worked at it too much. He taught people to go back when they were playing it rather than go forward to give batsmen more room to play and he developed a lot of that." Former England captain Mike Denness, a teammate of Woolmer's at Kent
"We had a marvellous time together. Can't believe it happened. It happened so quickly. We can't do anything about it... huge tragedy for Pakistan cricket, a huge shock for the nation. Don't think I can take it very well.... Was a lovely man, very understanding..."Shoaib Akhtar
"What Bob Woolmer did for a team that was at war with eachother was truly remarkable. He gave them a sense of direction, belonging, presence and a feeling of togetherness."Rameez Raja
"We were all very shocked when we found out. All of us had known Bob pretty well. A lot of us played under Bob, so it is obviously a huge sadness among the guys. We send our best out to his family, and I know a lot of the guys have been in contact with his wife. A lot of us had a close relationship with Bob over the last few months, especially having played against Pakistan. All of us socialised with him over a period of time. We will all have very fond memories of Bob - which is very important. The guys just hope his family can get things sorted out, and that is what is on most of the guys' minds at the moment."Graeme Smith
"Bob Woolmer was a wonderful man and also a very, very good cricketer. I first bumped into him when he was playing for Kent under Colin Cowdrey. He was a very good allrounder, an outswing bowler and batted at the top of the Kent innings. There was no doubt in my mind when I first saw him that Bob Woolmer would end up playing cricket for England. I had the pleasure of being captain and selecting him when that happened. He gave his all, all the time. He always felt that coaching Pakistan would be the big challenge but he always had it in the back of his mind that if he could get Pakistan together as a team, they could do something similar to what Australia has done in recent years, because of the incredible talent in that country. "Tony Greig
"On behalf of the England cricket team we know there has been a sad loss to the world of cricket with the death of Bob Woolmer today. We know how much he has had an impact on the world game, the English game and we know how greatly missed he's going to be. Today's win and the incidents of the last 48 hours have really hit home to us when we heard that Bob had died when we were on the field today. All our condolences go out to his family. It was only last Saturday that I was in the swimming pool in Montego Bay just talking to him. We were having fruit punches together just discussing the game and certain aspects of it. He was a great talker about the game, he had many ideas and innovative ideas and brought new things to the game. It's so hard to know that only five days ago you were in the swimming pool with him and now he's passed away. He's going to be greatly missed."Michael Vaughan
"I first met Bob Woolmer in 1972 when we were playing the one-day series in England. He was picked in the England side as a one-day specialist. The Australians tended to laugh about this, feeling that either you are a good cricketer or you are not. You didn't need specialist for different types of games. Anyhow I was soon laughing on the other side of my face, because in the first game he clean bowled me and he might have got my brother Greg as well. We then became well and truly aware of Bob Woolmer in 1975, when he got a century at The Oval. He batted for three days, to help England save the game in the fourth Test match in the 1975 series. The thing I admired about Bob, was that he enjoyed helping young cricketers. He really had a genuine love for the game and liked passing on his knowledge. The cricket world will be all the poorer for his passing."Ian Chappell .............
These were tributes offered by the legends themselves....but as an ardent cricket fan i feel so touched and so sad about bob woolmer's demise..I got up early tat morning wen all the news channels showed about finding the pakistan coach unconscious in his hotel room hours after his side's elimination from the World Cup. He was 58. Although Woolmer played 19 Tests for England, it was as an international coach that he really made his mark, first with South Africa and then, after a spell as the ICC's High Performance Manager, with Pakistan.
Not many of u wud be aware that he was born in india,Woolmer made his mark in a strong Kent side in the 1970s as an allrounder, a pugnacious middle-order batsman and medium-paced seamer. Although his England career was just getting started when he joined World Series Cricket, like so many who threw in their lot with Kerry Packer, when he returned he was not the player he had been. Injury forced him to retire prematurely in 1984. His coaching career started at Warwickshire, and he immediately made an impact as the county won a string of trophies in the early 1990s. That led to him being appointed by South Africa in 1994. In his final season with Warwickshire he witnessed Brian Lara make 501 not out for Durham - as a schoolboy at Lahore he had been present when Hanif Mohammad set the previous record highest score for 499.
Woolmer demonstrated what a difference a good coach could make to a side: these days, when a team underperforms, the coach comes under just as much scrutiny as the captain.
Don't you think its unnecessary pressure that we as people watching the game put on them?pressure that led to his death!that is if it wasn't a murder!!!!
But as responsible citizens we should realize that afterall its just a game..people breaking glasses at dhoni's house, threat calls to dravid's family, etc are only instances that prove how unable are we to take defeat as graciously as we take winning....we must learn that they are just humans,and humans are bound to commit mistakes just like you and me!!
BOB WOOLMER'S death is a shock to everyone related to cricket in smallest of ways also.
Let us pledge for his sake not to overreact to situations....
May his soul rest in peace....
GOD BLESS HIM AND THE INDIAN CRICKET TEAM........
"The news was pretty devastating, to be honest. He was a very, very close friend, actually more than as a coach.... He was a very respected man. We were together with Warwickshire and South Africa. Bob was an extremely professional man, was an extremely soft person, gave his life to cricket and probably paid for it." Allan Donald
"I am shocked and badly hurt. We have lost a good coach and a good person."Inzamam-ul-Haq
"We are all greatly saddened by Bob Woolmer's passing. He was a great cricket man. His life was devoted to cricket."Malcolm Speed, chief executive of the ICC
"He was a great lad, a great motivator. He was a bit eccentric at times but it is a terrible loss. I remember going to his house in Cape Town and many years ago he showed me his work room. He had everything on computers even then. This was before the technology was readily available and he showed me how he was going to monitor things and study each player's performance. He was one of the first to really work on the reverse-sweep shot, he probably worked at it too much. He taught people to go back when they were playing it rather than go forward to give batsmen more room to play and he developed a lot of that." Former England captain Mike Denness, a teammate of Woolmer's at Kent
"We had a marvellous time together. Can't believe it happened. It happened so quickly. We can't do anything about it... huge tragedy for Pakistan cricket, a huge shock for the nation. Don't think I can take it very well.... Was a lovely man, very understanding..."Shoaib Akhtar
"What Bob Woolmer did for a team that was at war with eachother was truly remarkable. He gave them a sense of direction, belonging, presence and a feeling of togetherness."Rameez Raja
"We were all very shocked when we found out. All of us had known Bob pretty well. A lot of us played under Bob, so it is obviously a huge sadness among the guys. We send our best out to his family, and I know a lot of the guys have been in contact with his wife. A lot of us had a close relationship with Bob over the last few months, especially having played against Pakistan. All of us socialised with him over a period of time. We will all have very fond memories of Bob - which is very important. The guys just hope his family can get things sorted out, and that is what is on most of the guys' minds at the moment."Graeme Smith
"Bob Woolmer was a wonderful man and also a very, very good cricketer. I first bumped into him when he was playing for Kent under Colin Cowdrey. He was a very good allrounder, an outswing bowler and batted at the top of the Kent innings. There was no doubt in my mind when I first saw him that Bob Woolmer would end up playing cricket for England. I had the pleasure of being captain and selecting him when that happened. He gave his all, all the time. He always felt that coaching Pakistan would be the big challenge but he always had it in the back of his mind that if he could get Pakistan together as a team, they could do something similar to what Australia has done in recent years, because of the incredible talent in that country. "Tony Greig
"On behalf of the England cricket team we know there has been a sad loss to the world of cricket with the death of Bob Woolmer today. We know how much he has had an impact on the world game, the English game and we know how greatly missed he's going to be. Today's win and the incidents of the last 48 hours have really hit home to us when we heard that Bob had died when we were on the field today. All our condolences go out to his family. It was only last Saturday that I was in the swimming pool in Montego Bay just talking to him. We were having fruit punches together just discussing the game and certain aspects of it. He was a great talker about the game, he had many ideas and innovative ideas and brought new things to the game. It's so hard to know that only five days ago you were in the swimming pool with him and now he's passed away. He's going to be greatly missed."Michael Vaughan
"I first met Bob Woolmer in 1972 when we were playing the one-day series in England. He was picked in the England side as a one-day specialist. The Australians tended to laugh about this, feeling that either you are a good cricketer or you are not. You didn't need specialist for different types of games. Anyhow I was soon laughing on the other side of my face, because in the first game he clean bowled me and he might have got my brother Greg as well. We then became well and truly aware of Bob Woolmer in 1975, when he got a century at The Oval. He batted for three days, to help England save the game in the fourth Test match in the 1975 series. The thing I admired about Bob, was that he enjoyed helping young cricketers. He really had a genuine love for the game and liked passing on his knowledge. The cricket world will be all the poorer for his passing."Ian Chappell .............
These were tributes offered by the legends themselves....but as an ardent cricket fan i feel so touched and so sad about bob woolmer's demise..I got up early tat morning wen all the news channels showed about finding the pakistan coach unconscious in his hotel room hours after his side's elimination from the World Cup. He was 58. Although Woolmer played 19 Tests for England, it was as an international coach that he really made his mark, first with South Africa and then, after a spell as the ICC's High Performance Manager, with Pakistan.
Not many of u wud be aware that he was born in india,Woolmer made his mark in a strong Kent side in the 1970s as an allrounder, a pugnacious middle-order batsman and medium-paced seamer. Although his England career was just getting started when he joined World Series Cricket, like so many who threw in their lot with Kerry Packer, when he returned he was not the player he had been. Injury forced him to retire prematurely in 1984. His coaching career started at Warwickshire, and he immediately made an impact as the county won a string of trophies in the early 1990s. That led to him being appointed by South Africa in 1994. In his final season with Warwickshire he witnessed Brian Lara make 501 not out for Durham - as a schoolboy at Lahore he had been present when Hanif Mohammad set the previous record highest score for 499.
Woolmer demonstrated what a difference a good coach could make to a side: these days, when a team underperforms, the coach comes under just as much scrutiny as the captain.
Don't you think its unnecessary pressure that we as people watching the game put on them?pressure that led to his death!that is if it wasn't a murder!!!!
But as responsible citizens we should realize that afterall its just a game..people breaking glasses at dhoni's house, threat calls to dravid's family, etc are only instances that prove how unable are we to take defeat as graciously as we take winning....we must learn that they are just humans,and humans are bound to commit mistakes just like you and me!!
BOB WOOLMER'S death is a shock to everyone related to cricket in smallest of ways also.
Let us pledge for his sake not to overreact to situations....
May his soul rest in peace....
GOD BLESS HIM AND THE INDIAN CRICKET TEAM........
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