22/03/2007

Further tests awaited on Pakistan coach

Further test results are awaited on the body of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer as police in Jamaica continue to treat his death as suspicious.

The 58-year-old former England cricketer died on Sunday hours after he was found unconscious in his hotel room at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston.

His death came 24 hours after Pakistan lost to Ireland in the cricket World Cup.

On Wednesday, Jamaican deputy police commissioner Mark Shields confirmed that Woolmer's death was being treated as suspicious. However, when asked if he believed the coach had been murdered, he replied: "No, we're not saying that."

On Thursday, a police spokesperson said that they still could not confirm the cause of death because the government pathologist who conducted the post-mortem was awaiting the result of toxicology and histology tests. They also confirmed that police would seek the opinion of a second pathologist.

Woolmer was known to suffer from diabetes and reported recently complained of breathing difficulties.

His widow Gill has rejected suggestions that her husband may have committed suicide and played down claims that he had been involved in a match-fixing plot.

She said that she had received an email from Woolmer a few hours before he died in which he expressed his disappointment at Pakistan's defeat by Ireland.

(KMcA/JM)


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