Remembering Bob Woolmer

Bob Woolmer, an international cricketer and a popular cricket coach was born on 14th May 1948 in Kanpur, India. On 18th March 2007, Woolmer died. He was credited to bring technology to caoching.

As a Player

He played 19 tests and 6 ODIs for England. He scored 1059 runs at an average of 33.09 which includes 3 centuries and 2 half centuries. 

As a Coach

After retiring from international cricket, he became a respected coach who had a stint with South Africa before moving to Pakistan.He was known for his progressive coaching techniques. He was one of the first to use computer analysis for cricket matches. He made the reverse popular shot for batsmen in 90’s. 

In 1994, he was appointed the coach of South Africa. During his tenure, the team won 73% of the ODI and performed well in test matches as well. Despite such good performance in ODI, the team failed to win either the 1996 World Cup or the 1999 World Cup. He resigned from the post in 1999.

In 2004, he became the coach of Pakistan. Pakistan won 3 successive test series against England, India and Sri Lanka under his guidance.

Death

A day after Pakistan had crashed out of the 2007 World Cup with a humiliating loss to Ireland, coach Bob Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room. Initially, 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 Woolmer had died of natural causes.

Awards

# One of five Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1976

# Posthumously honoured with the Sitara-e-Imtiaz (Star of Excellence), a high ranking civil award of Pakistan, for his contribution to Pakistan cricket

3 Cricket academy named after Bob Woolmer in Lahore "Bob Woolmer National Indoor Cricket Academy Lahore"

Gufran Naved