Wednesday, 13th June 2007 at 4:33 pm

CSI Jamaica ends Bob Woolmer affair

Yes, most of the police were too pre-occupied by the cricket to pay much attention, and yes, the timing (right after Pakistan had been spectacularly eliminated from the World Cup) suggested the possibility of an unnatural end. But the handling of Bob Woolmer’s death has been spectacularly inept, and only this week has a conclusion finally been drawn.

In the intervening weeks since Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room, assorted investigators have attributed the Pakistan coach’s death to suicide, heart attack, poisoning (snake venom adding a touch of the exotic to an already outlandish tale), strangulation, choking, and unspecified murder; variously, cricketers, former cricketers, irate fans, bookies, and dark, unspecified characters wary of what the book Woolmer was planning to write might hold.

At last, however, a hopelessly meandering investigation has come to an end, and the official word is that Woolmer was not murdered, a conclusion that will hopefully offer a shred of solace to his family, who’ve been subjected to a truly horrible period of uncertainty (and media intrusion). As the low point of a poor World Cup, the Woolmer death will forever define the 2007 tournament; at least a semblance of closure has finally been applied to the cruellest blow cricket will suffer for some time.