Source

I think the last warning served its purpose. I hope the Indian cricket team continue its form all the way to world cup glory.

Mean while the cricketing world has witnessed shocks beyond imagination. When Hansie Cronje died in an air crash, I was in awe because I still held him in high respect in spite of his involvement in the match fixing scandal. But when I heard about Woolmer’s death, I had my foot in my mouth! They both complimented each other well. South Africa’s phenomenal success in cricket was largely due to the coachmanship of Woolmer . I still remember how they first introduced wireless headphones in cricket during the World Cup in 1999 so that the coach can directly interact with the captain in the field. He is also credited with the introduction of technology, more specifically laptops, for coaching sessions.

On the final leg of the tour, A1taf said that Woolmer wanted to meet the man who exposed the match-fixing scandal in which Hansie Cronje, his beloved captain, was charged with taking money to throw away matches. Could I arrange the meeting? The day the Pakistan team was to leave for Karachi, Woolmer and I met Delhi police chief KK Paul at his residence in the morning. For an hour and so, Woolmer defended Cronje and Paul very firmly defended his stand and told him that the case was based on facts. To the surprise of both Paul and me, Woolmer disclosed many secrets of Pakistan cricket, which won’t be right of me to reveal here, for dead men never speak. On our way back to the hotel, Woolmer said he was writing a book, an expose on a television scam that involved the embezzlement of a lot of money

I salute this great man who lost his life because of this love of life, Cricket!