Pakistan’s top civil award for Bob Woolmer

“Pakistan cricket shall forever be indebted to his services and this nation will always remember him for the joys he brought into the lives of millions of Pakistanis,” Musharraf was quoted as saying in a condolence message to Woolmer’s wife Gill.

“We shall all greatly miss him. The cricketing world and Pakistan, in particular, will find it extremely difficult to fill the void Bob’s death has left behind.”

The team’s unexpected exit from the World Cup at the weekend prompted some protests by angry fans who burned effigies of skipper Inzamam-ul Haq, and many of the game’s top administrators in Pakistan have resigned.

Since his death, newspapers have been full of letters praising Woolmer and also bemoaning the back-biting that has often hampered success by the talented but unpredictable national side that won the World Cup in 1992.

“Bob, perhaps, had one of the toughest jobs to coach a bunch of ever-squabbling, ill-educated and out-of-control brats, afflicted with indiscipline, personal rivalries and on-and-off-the-field antics,” wrote M.S. Hassan of Karachi in The News.

Former Test bowler Abdul Qadir linked Woolmer’s death with the stunning defeat against Ireland. “He was so depressed with the defeat that it took away his life as the team on which he worked hard, proved to be a failure.”

“Poison. Strangulation. Overdose. Match-fixing. Already the blogosphere is abuzz with dreadful possibilities,” remarked columnist Huma Yusuf in The News.

She likened the sudden collapse of the Pakistan cricket side to the collapse of its democracy under President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, its military ruler.