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 March 30 - The next time you contemplate putting a bet on a cricket match, bear
in mind that the contest might be rigged tighter than a pirate ship main sail and
that you
might get better odds than going to the Oriental Plaza and getting a wonderful
deal on a rug.
While the ICC might want you to keep your head in the sand and pretend that the
Cricket World Cup is a celebration of sporting prowess, the body count tends to prove
otherwise.
Exhibit A is the murder of Bob Woolmer, basically the tip of an iceberg that no
one in cricket would like to acknowledge exists much less avoid smashing into.
The fact that Woolmer was murdered in his hotel room with no signs of forced
entry the day after the team he coached lost a game where they were
the favourites to win at 1/25, must surely be nothing lmore than a coincidence.
Okay so he coached Pakistan, a cricketing nation that is no stranger to
match-fixing accusations. When the Pakistanis are trying to win the game you can
tell straight away because there is usually a ball tampering outcry.
When their hearts aren't in it you find them losing to Ireland. Okay so he used
to coach Hansie Cronje and South Africa back when bookmakers could have won a
lot of money if only Herschelle Gibbs understood what people were saying to him.
Hansie Cronje is well known for catching a ride on a plane that subsequently
slammed into the side of a mountain thereby ensuring his eternal silence and
preventing him from naming names. Accident or sabotage, you be the judge.
The same fate has now befallen Bob Woolmer. It is impossible to say whether Woolmer
was a friend or foe to these bookmaker cartels that have destroyed the sport,
but to think that he was unconnected to them seems both illogical and wishful in
the extreme.
The obfuscation that has occurred at the Cricket World Cup surrounding Woolmer's murder
has been disappointing but hardly surprising.
The truth cannot be avoided in this instance in terms of the nature of the
death (murder), the scene of the crime (his hotel room with no signs of forced
entry), the timing of the incident (right after Pakistan's shock defeat with
millions riding on the outcome), and the tainted history of those involved all
point clearly to a sports betting scandal that will rock cricket to its core.
And to think that the chief complaint of many people regarding cricket is that
it is a boring game. Think again. RIP Bob Woolmer.
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