This was written by Lawrence Booth in The Guardian`s `The Spin` column and is well worth a read.Quote:
IN MEMORY OF BOB WOOLMER
Black armbands are usually personal things. But as of yesterday, all
16 sides at the World Cup were invited to wear one in memory of Bob
Woolmer, cricket`s supreme internationalist and a man who did not so
much command respect as earn it, gently and infectiously.
Woolmer, who died suddenly over the weekend at the age of 58 from
causes as yet unknown, coached in England, South Africa and Pakistan,
as well as doing unheralded work with the likes of Canada, Kenya,
Namibia, the Netherlands, Scotland and the UAE. If anyone deserves a
prolonged 171-man salute from the four corners of the cricketing
community, it is surely he.
All the tributes to this very model of a modern cricket thinker have
emphasised two things: Woolmer was both a good man and an equally
good coach with an impressively lateral approach to a sport that has
always rewarded innovation. For what it is worth, he was also a
journalist`s delight. Not everyone will necessarily regard this as an
important part of the international cricket coach`s brief, but
Woolmer was smart enough to see beyond the stereotype of the
grasping, untrustworthy hack. He recognised the media`s ability to
spread the gospel and fed us time and again: sometimes in the most
trying circumstances, usually beyond the call of duty, always with
enthusiasm.
Yet his media-friendliness had less to do with calculation and almost
everything to do with the fact that he simply loved talking about the
game. Many people are called cricket-lovers, but in Woolmer`s case
the description hardly did him justice. No matter that not everyone
agreed with all his views. He had too many to make that possible. The
point was that he kept airing them, always testing, modifying,
experimenting. Debate was cherished.
Back in 2001, I was covering my first county match for another paper.
The game was Derbyshire v Warwickshire, and in an attempt to fill my
150-word slot, I went for a stroll round Derby`s windswept ground to
find someone - anyone - to give me a quote. The first person I bumped
into was Woolmer, who was coaching Warwickshire at the time. He
invited me into the pavilion for a cup of tea and proceeded to talk
for half an hour about his vision for the county championship. In the
end, I only had room for a single quote, but I was touched by his
generosity and in awe of the breadth of his cricketing perspective.
Five years later I rang him more in hope than expectation in the
aftermath of the forfeited Test at The Oval. It was a frantic period
for Woolmer, by now the coach of Pakistan, but somehow he found two
hours for me, a virtual stranger. I asked him then what he intended
to do after the World Cup. He said he had a few options, but was
putting everything on hold until the competition was over. At 58, he
seemed to have several years left in which to explore them.
He also provided a few insights into his state of mind. They read
uncomfortably now. The first - "it feels as if you`ve got a heavy
cloud sitting on you" - was understandable in the circumstances. The
second - "I`m old enough to know that this is a depressing period in
my life" - sounded more heartfelt and less spur of the moment. The
third - "I`m trying to get myself in a situation where I can just
enjoy my cricket" - suggested that even Woolmer risked losing his
legendary enthusiasm. The months that followed did little to help.
Did the pressures of coaching Pakistan hasten his demise? We will
never know for sure, although his son, Russell, has already suggested
that stress played a part. Back to the post-Oval interview, and I
asked Woolmer what his main emotion was. "One of dismay and almost
despair," he replied. "The polarisation of ICC and Pakistan and the
positions they`re taking are creating a really uneasy feeling,
certainly in my stomach. It`s a desperate situation." Did the uneasy
feeling ever go away? I hope so. Woolmer gave so much to cricket that
it would be a sad twist if cricket ultimately took it all away from
him. Either way, his is a life to celebrate. Cricket is the poorer
without him.
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