To sue or not to sue, absolved Pak cricket divided over issue

Lahore, June 13 (UNI) PCB dismissed calls for legal action against Jamaican police after the investigations established that former Paksitan coach Bob Woolmer died of natural causes.

The sense of relief, that Woolmer was not murdered, was soon subsided by deep anguish and an absolved Pakistan cricket fraternity debated whether or not to drag Jamaican police to the court.

''The truth has finally come out. This verdict will be a relief for the wife and family of late Woolmer,'' a spokesman for the PCB was quoted as saying by Daily Times.

To a query, the spokesman added that the board would not take any legal action against Jamaican police.

Entire Pakistani World Cup squad was finger-printed and provided DNA samples, while then-captain Inzamamul Haq, bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmad and media manager P J Mir were grilled twice over the affair.

Inzamam, who tendered his resignation after the showpiece tournament, recalled the trauma the players went through after Woolmer's death but said there was no need of a legal action against the investigators.

''I don't feel court action would be of any use now. The players in general and I, as captain in particular, went through hell and those were the most terrible days of our lives,'' Inzamam said.

However, ace batsman Mohd Yousuf and former skipper Imran Khan were less forgiving and demanded Mark Shields and Co. to compensate Pakistan cricketers for what they went through.

''The board should take the legal action. It was their investigation. Cooperation was okay but we were fingerprinted and not allowed to leave,'' Yousuf said.

Imran Khan also echoed similar sentiments and said: ''No one should be able to go away scot-free after tarnishing and damaging the reputation of players and cricket so much.'' Woolmer, 58, died soon after being found unconscious in his hotel room in Jamaica on March 18, a day after Pakistan were knocked out of the World Cup by minnows Ireland. An initial autopsy report proved inconclusive, but a pathology report later indicated he died of asphyxia as a result of 'manual strangulation', which led the police to treat the death as murder.

After two and a half months of investigations and a host of conspiracy theories, Jamican police yesterday closed the chapter concluding that the coach ''died of natural causes.'' UNI