ICC's silence baffling

the management, it’s clear that Bob was no pushover.
Was that why he was killed?
Was he privy to something dangerous?

Why was Bob Woolmer murdered? is the billion dollar question people are asking, as much as 'who will win the world cup'. Rather infamously, cricket has proved to be a gloriously uncertain game. No one, inside the ground or outside, expected cold-blooded murder to spill over into the world cup. Murderous bowling, or batting in the 22-yard circle, yes, but the old-fashioned (?) paperback blood-and-gore murder and body in the bathroom? It's cloak and dagger stuff, especially after the Jamaican police pronounced Bob's death as "suspicious".

A day after Pakistan's humiliating loss to minnows Ireland, the body of its coach Woolmer was found lying in his hotel bathroom. It was whispered that he died under "mysterious circumstances" - blood on the walls, drug abuse and booze, depression, and a diabetic added to the intrigue. The Pakistan team was er..suitably mortified of the loss. It was no secret that the players were not exactly in love with the coach. Shoiab Akhthar's physical tussle with the coach, skipper Inzamam-ul-Haq's aloofness, the dope scandals, the spectre of match-fixing, was a distraction that the coach could have done without. But Bob, with his chubby smile, laptop, and chirpy soundb ytes soldiered on gamely.

If he had problems with the Pakistan Board officials, he did not mention it, but neither did he push them under the carpet. Given his frequent troubles with the players and the management, it's clear that Bob was no pushover. Was that why he was killed? Was he privy to something dangerous?

Former Pakistan coach and fast bowler Sarfraz Nawaz has said that Woolmer may have been killed by those who wanted to silence him on the issue of match-fixing. According to him, Woolmer was about to expose the cricketer-bookie nexus in Pakistan, when he was killed. "Certain top players in the Pakistan team are involved in fixing the matches against the West Indies and Ireland. The theory going round in Windies police circles is that Woolmer might have been killed by those who wanted to silence him on the issue of match-fixing", a daily quoted him as saying, soon after the Jamaican police suspected some foul play in Woolmer's death.

Woolmer died a day after Pakistan's crushing loss to Ireland - the biggest upset in the world cup. This must have left him shattered, as he knew the Pakistan media would have bayed for his blood in the days to come. An emotional country would have demanded a sacrifice and Bob's head would have been the first to roll. All this must have preyed on his mind during the last few hours of his life. Initial reports that Bob drank himself to death blends in nicely with this hypothesis. But in his death, Woolmer, refused to play with a straight bat, as future events showed. 

Until Tuesday afternoon, the Jamaican police refused to play ball with the mystery surrounding Woolmer's death, on the grounds that the autopsy report was "inconclusive". But the needle of suspicion turned swiftly, after the reports of the toxicology and histology tests pointed towards the strong possibility of Bob being poisoned to death. The samples of vomit found in his room showed this as most likely to have happened.

If Bob was indeed poisoned, it could have only been by someone known to him. Reports hinting of an angry fan being behind his death are too far fetched. The poison could also have been given to him by the killer much earlier and not just before his death. According to the police, the poison could have been an agent that reacts slowly.