Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Pakistan cricketers angry, relieved after findings
KARACHI: The Pakistan cricketers on Tuesday expressed their anger and relief over the news that coach Bob Woolmer died of natural causes, with some calling for the Caribbean investigators to be sued.
Former captain Inzamamul Haq one of three squad members who were questioned twice after police alleged Woolmer was strangled said there was no need to reopen wounds with legal action. I dont feel court action would be of any use now. The players in general and I, as captain in particular, went through hell and those were the most terrible days of our lives, Inzamam said. We must be ready to handle such things better in future by involving the government and the (Pakistan Cricket) Board from the initial stages, added Inzamam, who retired as skipper after the tournament. The Jamaican police defended their handling of the case, which had appeared at first to cast suspicion on members of the Pakistan team, arguing they could not second-guess the first pathologists report.
Theories swirling around Woolmers death in the media ranged from the use of poison to the involvement of a so-called match-fixing mafia or even the Al-Qaeda network. Inzamam said he was still haunted by the memories of the week after Woolmers death. It was a very tough time. We were out of the World Cup and still had to play one more match (against Zimbabwe) and people had hurled all sorts of allegations, he said.
Star Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf, however, urged the PCB to sue the Jamaican police to compensate the players for what they went through. The PCB should take legal action. But its not up to the players. We cannot sue the Jamaican police. It is a matter to be handled by the PCB, Yousuf said. It was their investigation. It was okay and we cooperated, but we were fingerprinted and not allowed to leave, which added to our pain of being knocked out of the World Cup. Yousuf said players had never believed that Woolmer had been murdered. We felt it was a natural death from day one and we feel the same now, he said. All-rounder Shahid Afridi, who had to sit out in Pakistans first two matches including the upset loss against Ireland, demanded that the Jamaican authorities should say sorry. We went through trauma, but what has happened has happened. At least the Jamaican police owe us an apology, said Afridi. That would be some consolation after they botched up everything.
Former PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said there would be no benefit in taking legal action. Instead, in my opinion, Pakistan should demand an apology from the Jamaican government and the International Cricket Council, said Khan.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\06\13\story_13-6-2007_pg2_12
