ADELAIDE : Pakistan and Ireland will relive nightmarish memories of the World Cup’s most tragic moment eight years ago when they clash at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
It was on March 17, 2007 — St Patrick’s Day — that the unheralded Irish team stunned Pakistan in a group match at Sabina Park, Jamaica.
The loss knocked Pakistan out of the tournament but a bigger shock awaited them a day later when their coach Bob Woolmer was found dead in the bathroom of his hotel room in Kingston.
Woolmer, 58, who was on medication for diabetes, was lying naked on his back, and there was blood in his mouth and he appeared to have vomited on the walls.
When his death was made public, it was assumed to be a heart attack but there were also suggestions he had committed suicide.
After lengthy investigations that even included the possibility of murder, Jamaican police on June 12 announced that Woolmer had died of natural causes.
The inquest proved inconclusive, but the mystery lingers on and the pain that the cricket community endured during those horrific days dampened the mood for the rest of the World Cup which Australia went on to win.
Cricket-related deaths are uncommon, but the passing away of a team coach at the sport’s showpiece event after a defeat is a tragedy that took a long time to come to terms with.
Senior batsman Younis Khan, the only member of that 2007 Pakistan squad still involved with the ongoing World Cup, admitted he still missed Woolmer, their coach for three years from 2004.
“This is surely a very emotional game for me and all of us,” Khan said of Sunday’s match which takes place almost to the day of the tragic events eight years ago.
“I remember Bob a lot, he contributed so much to Pakistan cricket. Hope we can win this game and some more in the World Cup. There would be nothing better to dedicate to Bob’s memory.” (AGENCIES)
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