Friday 23rd March
Clarence Hiles reports from the Caribbean...
Ireland take the field today against hosts West Indies at Sabina Park as Super Eight qualifiers in their third game but there will be few people outside both camps focused on the cricket following the sensational announcement last night that Pakistan's English coach Bob Woolmer was murdered last Sunday evening.
This shocking revelation followed a second post mortem and confirmed rumours that had been circulating around the cricket world over the past few days. In a true "Who done it" mystery saga the whole atmosphere of Cricket World Cup 2007 has dramatically changed and in its place we now have a sordid picture of gangsters, match fixing, and hit-men. Just where this investigation will go is the subject of widespread speculation and even the Pakistan team has been interviewed and finger-printed by the police.
The scene has all the ingredients of a suspense thriller but one suspects there's a lot more to unfold before this story runs its course. Sadly it has already cast a dark shadow over the tournament and while all the matches will go ahead as planned, one feels cricket has been dealt a savage blow by the selfish interests of criminals on the periphery of the game.
Poor Bob Woolmer, a gentleman and sportsman in every sense, who may even have known his killers since there was no forced entry to his room. It all adds more mystery to a hideous crime that will not only overshadow today's game but the whole tournament and the sport of cricket for ever.
