Now comes the aconite theory

Toxicologists say aconite is the “perfect” drug to mask a murder. It also explains why Jamaican pathologist Dr Ere Seshaiah found no marks around Woolmer’s neck to suggest he had been strangled.

Meanwhile, another British paper The Mail took an entirely different line on Woolmer’s death by reporting that it was a “tragic accident” possibly a result of the coach having “drowned his sorrows” in a bottle of whisky.

“The aconite tip is a major breakthrough and is being taken extremely seriously. The man who called Kingston police station had a Pakistani accent and was very specific about aconite and how it was administered,” Shields was quoted as saying by The Sunday Mirror.

“The symptoms Bob suffered before he died are identical to aconite poisoning, which is why it is a major line of inquiry now,” he added.

“It would also explain how such a physically imposing man, at 6ft 1in tall, died without putting up a fight. You’d struggle to get two people into his bath room let alone three, so it could be no-one was there,” Shields added.

The Mail said a witness described how 58-year-old Woolmer was “extremely vexed” on the team bus after Pakistan crashed out of the World Cup and sat alone in the bar of Hotel Pegasus. When most of the Pakistani players went for a dinner to the home of multi-millionaire car dealer Tariq Malik, Woolmer stayed back.

“There was an open invitation for him the previous evening but the players told me he stayed back at the hotel drinking Scotch. They said he had drunk up to a bottle and was really drowning his sorrows,” Malik said.

But police refused to comment on what Woolmer may have drunk before his death until they have studied the results of toxicology and histology tests.

Malik also claimed “the only security I saw at the Pegasus was after Bob’s death. Prior to that you could get into the lift and go up to the rooms unchallenged”.

Meanwhile, the International Cricket Council was probing three of its Elite panel umpires as a part of its inquiry into match-fixing, The Sunday Gleaner report said.

“Not only have players been implicated in match-fixing scandals but a well-placed source says at least three umpires on the ICC elite panels are being investigated by Lord Condon’s ICC Anti-Corruption Unit,” it said.

“The intelligence source says these investigations were done because it was found that some umpires have offshore banking accounts thought to be set up by match-fixers.”