Welcoming the announcement of the Jamaican Police that Bob Woolmer died of natural causes, the International Cricket Council has said the reputation of the World Cup and the game had been unnecessarily tarnished as theories about his death ‘became wilder and more bizarre with many of those suggesting a link to corruption and match-fixing.’
“To those who suggest that corruption is still widespread throughout the game of cricket -- and there have been plenty of people who have peddled such comments to anyone prepared to listen in the aftermath of Bob’s unfortunate and untimely death -- we have one clear message: put up or shut up,” the head of ICC’s Anti-Corruption unit Lord Paul Condon said.
“Now that the truth has been established, hopefully some balance will be restored and the efforts the ICC has made to clean up the game will be recognised,” the statement added.
Condon said, “From the outset, the ACSU counselled an open-minded approach to Bob’s death as, based on their cumulative police experience and knowledge of the alleged crime scene, the death and the location had none of the obvious hallmarks of a murder and it remains a concern that the murder theory was so readily embraced.”
He said that people can feel confident that they are watching a genuine contest unaffected by outside influences.
“In terms of cricket’s ongoing fight against the corruptors, the game is now certainly in a much healthier state than it was seven years ago, thanks to a raft of measures that have been introduced,” he said.
He said that for the good of the game, ‘let us now focus on events on the field and have cricket back in the headlines for all the right reasons.’

Pak silent on damages
Pakistan’s cricket authorities heaved a sigh of relief after the announcement that former coach Woolmer died of natural causes, but stopped short of confirming whether they would file a libel suit against the Jamaican Police for claiming that it was a murder, adds PTI from Karachi.
“I can’t comment on whether we will be going for legal action. But yes, it is a big relief for us that this issue is finally closed. It signals the end of a traumatic period for our players and Board,“ PCB spokesman Ehsan Malik said.
“What we do from here onwards needs to be decided. But there is no doubt our players went through a lot of stress and pressure.”