2007 Cricket World Cup: The death of Bob Woolmer

[Len Colby]

Are you guys talking about soccer, cricket, or badminton? I thought that the World Cup was soccer ("football"), but maybe there's a World Cup for everything? You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but to us Americans "football" means only one thing. The real thing! And a "cricket" is something that chirps.

I always said that American lacked culture. Cricket is a great game and is nearly as good as soccer. This murder is a real big story in those countries that play cricket. It is believed that Woolmer was about to expose a match-fixing scandal. It is possible he was murdered by members of the team he coached.

Any other suspects besides members of his team, does anyone believe their loss to Ireland was arranged?

[Guest]

Are you guys talking about soccer, cricket, or badminton? I thought that the World Cup was soccer ("football"), but maybe there's a World Cup for everything? You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but to us Americans "football" means only one thing. The real thing! And a "cricket" is something that chirps.

Cricket is a game perhaps a little bit similar to your baseball (baseball being incidentally a game played exclusively by school girls in England and called "rounders" http://www.nra-rounders.co.uk/).

Cricket however tends to be played by men and is an infinitely tactically more complex and rewarding game - I urge you to become acquainted with it http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/

[Sid Walker]

Are you guys talking about soccer, cricket, or badminton? I thought that the World Cup was soccer ("football"), but maybe there's a World Cup for everything? You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but to us Americans "football" means only one thing. The real thing! And a "cricket" is something that chirps.

Cricket is a game perhaps a little bit similar to your baseball (baseball being incidentally a game played exclusively by school girls in England and called "rounders" http://www.nra-rounders.co.uk/).

Cricket however tends to be played by men and is an infinitely tactically more complex and rewarding game - I urge you to become acquainted with it http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/

It's a good time to get involved, Ron.

The main complaint against cricket used to be the unspeakable tedium. A group of 22 men, wearing whites, did essentially the same leisurely thing on a flat grassy surface, rather slowly, for several days on end.

Things changed a bit in the 1980s, when Australian media moguls got involved. They made the players wear coloured shirts and trousers, and shortened matches to a single day. That made it more suitable for the era of colour TV and couch potatoes with relatively short attention spans. Advertising revenue boomed.

Now the mafia are involved, I expect cricket will become popular in North America, Italy, Israel and Russia. This will do wonders for the game. The action will become even faster. An entire test series could be over in a few moments.

Cricket and terrorism compliment each other perfectly. Without terror, cricket is simply too boring for a worldwide audience. Without cricket, terrorim is uncouth.

Expect to see Mark Stapleton commentating soon on Fox TV, sharing his expertise with the masses on previously obscure topics such as false flag ops against the umpires, faked action replays, the market in match fixing futures, explosive balls and the controlled demolition of English cricket.

Edited March 24, 2007 by Sid Walker

[Mark Stapleton]

Are you guys talking about soccer, cricket, or badminton? I thought that the World Cup was soccer ("football"), but maybe there's a World Cup for everything? You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but to us Americans "football" means only one thing. The real thing! And a "cricket" is something that chirps.

I always said that American lacked culture. Cricket is a great game and is nearly as good as soccer. This murder is a real big story in those countries that play cricket. It is believed that Woolmer was about to expose a match-fixing scandal. It is possible he was murdered by members of the team he coached.

Any other suspects besides members of his team, does anyone believe their loss to Ireland was arranged?

Len,

I doubt if any members of the Pakistan side would have been dumb enough to do it, although it has been suggested that some hardcore fans with connections to the entourage may have been responsible.

Aussie cricket doyen Richie Benaud said he thinks it's unlikely that Woolmer was murdered because of what he knew about match fixing. Benaud wrote a foreward for Bob's yet to be released book and he claims it contained no new revelations on this issue. Either way, I think the case will soon be solved. The hotel had CCTV everywhere and DNA testing should wrap it up.

Was the game against Ireland fixed? That's a very good question. Pakistan were at very short odds to win and anyone betting on Ireland would have been handsomely rewarded.

[Mark Stapleton]

Are you guys talking about soccer, cricket, or badminton? I thought that the World Cup was soccer ("football"), but maybe there's a World Cup for everything? You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but to us Americans "football" means only one thing. The real thing! And a "cricket" is something that chirps.

Cricket is a game perhaps a little bit similar to your baseball (baseball being incidentally a game played exclusively by school girls in England and called "rounders" http://www.nra-rounders.co.uk/).

Cricket however tends to be played by men and is an infinitely tactically more complex and rewarding game - I urge you to become acquainted with it http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/

It's a good time to get involved, Ron.

The main complaint against cricket used to be the unspeakable tedium. A group of 22 men, wearing whites, did essentially the same leisurely thing on a flat grassy surface, rather slowly, for several days on end.

Things changed a bit in the 1980s, when Australian media moguls got involved. They made the players wear coloured shirts and trousers, and shortened matches to a single day. That made it more suitable for the era of colour TV and couch potatoes with relatively short attention spans. Advertising revenue boomed.

Now the mafia are involved, I expect cricket will become popular in North America, Italy, Israel and Russia. This will do wonders for the game. The action will become even faster. An entire test series could be over in a few moments.

Cricket and terrorism compliment each other perfectly. Without terror, cricket is simply too boring for a worldwide audience. Without cricket, terrorim is uncouth.

Expect to see Mark Stapleton commentating soon on Fox TV, sharing his expertise with the masses on previously obscure topics such as false flag ops against the umpires, faked action replays, the market in match fixing futures, explosive balls and the controlled demolition of English cricket.

I'm breathlessly anticipating that life changing phone call from Fox TV.

Have I mentioned before that I'm a huge fan of their fair and balanced approach to political reportage? Well, not yet but I soon will be. (if the price is right)

[John Simkin]

It is believed that Bob Woolmer was killed by the “carotid sleeper’ method. The murderer stands behind the victim and closes off the carotid artery and therefore starves the brain of oxygen. If the victim is not in good physical condition, they will die of a heart attack within a few seconds. This method leaves little physical evidence that the person has been murdered.

However, sometimes, the person will be able to struggle for around 20 seconds before they die. If the police suspect that the victim had enemies they might organize a detailed autopsy. In that case, the police will discover the victim has died of strangulation rather than of a heart attack. This is what happened in the Bob Woolmer case.

It is believed that Dawood Ibrahim ordered Woolmer’s death. He is Pakistan’s leading illegal bookmaker. In Pakistan, all the millions of gamblers placed their bets on their country winning the World Cup or getting to the later stages of the competition. A large sum of money was at stake and so it was well-worth Dawood Ibrahim paying bribes to Pakistani players.

Woolmer was aware of what was happening when he watched the game against Ireland. Woolmer had experienced a similar problem when he was coach to South Africa. After the game he interviewed all the players. One or more confessed to what had happened. Woolmer made it clear he intended informing the ICC and the ASCU about the matter the following morning.

When Dawood Ibrahim was informed of what happened, he arranged for Woolmer to have a visitor that night.

[Ron Ecker]

Cronje was killed in a plane crash before he told the full story of the match-fixing scandal.

John,

Out of curiosity, how many people died with Cronje in the plane crash? Perhaps the most disturbing thing about assassination by plane crash is that the culprits don't give a damn how many innocent people they kill to get one person (e.g. Dorothy Hunt). It's understandable that there are sociopathic killers willing to do such jobs, but how those who order such hits, often for purely political reasons, can sleep at night is a chilling phenomenon.

Also, on the "match-fixing mafia," if match fixing is as common as you suggest, it raises the question of why to take cricket matches seriously. A lot of Americans (I don't know about overseas) are big pro wrestling fans, but they know that it's fake, it's a show, and they enjoy it on that basis. Conversely, cricket fans are apparently willing to be taken in.

Ron

Edited March 24, 2007 by Ron Ecker

[John Simkin]

Cronje was killed in a plane crash before he told the full story of the match-fixing scandal.

John,

Out of curiosity, how many people died with Cronje in the plane crash? Perhaps the most disturbing thing about assassination by plane crash is that the culprits don't give a damn how many innocent people they kill to get one person (e.g. Dorothy Hunt). It's understandable that there are sociopathic killers willing to do such jobs, but how those who order such hits, often for purely political reasons, can sleep at night is a chilling phenomenon.

On 1 June 2002 Hansie Cronje hitched a ride as the only passenger on a cargo flight in a Hawker Siddeley 748 turboprop aircraft. Near George airport, the pilots lost visibility in cloud, and were unable to land, partly due to unserviceable navigational equipment. While circling, the plane crashed into the Outeniqua mountains northeast of the airport. Hansie Cronje, aged 32, and the two pilots were killed instantly.

In August 2006 an inquest into the plane crash by South Africa's High Court started. The inquest reached the conclusion that "the death of the deceased Wessel Johannes (Hansie) Cronje was brought about by an act or omission prima facie amounting to an offence on the part of pilots."

[Myra Bronstein]

Are you guys talking about soccer, cricket, or badminton? I thought that the World Cup was soccer ("football"), but maybe there's a World Cup for everything? You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but to us Americans "football" means only one thing. The real thing! And a "cricket" is something that chirps.

Cricket is a game perhaps a little bit similar to your baseball (baseball being incidentally a game played exclusively by school girls in England and called "rounders" http://www.nra-rounders.co.uk/).

Cricket however tends to be played by men and is an infinitely tactically more complex and rewarding game - I urge you to become acquainted with it http://www.lords.org/laws-and-spirit/laws-of-cricket/

It's a good time to get involved, Ron.

The main complaint against cricket used to be the unspeakable tedium. A group of 22 men, wearing whites, did essentially the same leisurely thing on a flat grassy surface, rather slowly, for several days on end.

Things changed a bit in the 1980s, when Australian media moguls got involved. They made the players wear coloured shirts and trousers, and shortened matches to a single day. That made it more suitable for the era of colour TV and couch potatoes with relatively short attention spans. Advertising revenue boomed.

Now the mafia are involved, I expect cricket will become popular in North America, Italy, Israel and Russia. This will do wonders for the game. The action will become even faster. An entire test series could be over in a few moments.

Cricket and terrorism compliment each other perfectly. Without terror, cricket is simply too boring for a worldwide audience. Without cricket, terrorim is uncouth.

Expect to see Mark Stapleton commentating soon on Fox TV, sharing his expertise with the masses on previously obscure topics such as false flag ops against the umpires, faked action replays, the market in match fixing futures, explosive balls and the controlled demolition of English cricket.

Boffo post Sid.

Two thumbs up.

[Myra Bronstein]

...

Have I mentioned before that I'm a huge fan of their fair and balanced approach to political reportage? Well, not yet but I soon will be. (if the price is right)

No no no Mark. Their motto is "Fairly Balanced."

That should clear things up.

[Ron Ecker]

Cricket is a great game and is nearly as good as soccer.

"Nearly as good as soccer"? That is faint praise indeed.

[Greg Parker]

Mark, Andy, John... just as well you're all more "on the ball" in other areas. India? Suggest you trade in your chicken entrails and leave the divination to those with the right "tools"... you know... like Pakistani bookies...

Meanwhile, here's a good, albeit abridged article on the carotid sleeper hold by Forensic Pathologists:

Deaths from Carotid Sleeper Hold

[Guest Stephen Turner]

Cricket is a great game and is nearly as good as soccer.

"Nearly as good as soccer"? That is faint praise indeed.

Try Rugby Ron, either league, or Union. Its a little like Gridiron only without all the sissy protective gear, and endless "sponsorship messages" fouling up the passage of play.

[Ron Ecker]

Try Rugby Ron, either league, or Union. Its a little like Gridiron only without all the sissy protective gear, and endless "sponsorship messages" fouling up the passage of play.

Rugby does look interesting, based on what I saw of it in the movie "This Sporting Life." But Richard Harris getting his teeth knocked out looked like a good argument for some of that "sissy protective gear."

Remember what Lyndon Johnson once said about Gerald Ford: he played too much football without a helmet.

[Sid Walker]

The origin and early history of Rugby provides considerable insight into the mentality of the British ruling elite in the Imperial era.

Different scholarly institutions contrived variantions on the theme of ritualized violence between two teams of agressive young males.

An extreme form of this was developed at Eton, whose famous "wall game" never caught on in the wider community.

I seem to recall that in the Eton wall game, goals are as rare as world wars or assassinated US Presidents. Just a few each century.

Not enough action for the general public, who prefer thrills in more frequent, smaller doses (if given the choice).

Edited March 27, 2007 by Sid Walker