ICC chief Malcolm Speed summed it up best: "We have gone from shock to disbelief.'' He was referring to an investigation that revealed Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was murdered in his hotel room a day after the team's humiliating loss to Ireland. Organizers of the first Cricket World Cup in the Caribbean agonized for months over infrastructure, accomodations and travel restrictions. Now look what they have to deal with: a murder. And this isn't some Agatha Christie novel. This is a tragic event that has some people saying the whole event should be called off.
We have seen the signs for years that cricket has developed an unsavory side. Some suspect Woolmer was murdered as reprisal for some match-fixing interest. Match-fixing has tainted the sport in recent years, with players such as late South Africa captain Hansie Cronje implicated. Cricket is not the highest-paying of sports, and if a player doesn't have an endorsement deal, he can't become wealthy. This is one reason some might be tempted to entertain thoughts of match-fixing. Even West Indies player Marlon Samuels was implicated before the start of the Cricket World Cup. Ever wonder why we've never heard about match-fixing in the NBA? When you make that much money, you don't need to cheat.
As the poet John Donne said: "Every man's death diminishes me.'' But I'm especially saddened that this has happened in the West Indies, the region where I was born. It took the Caribbean years to prove it could handle such an arduous hosting opportunity, and now this.
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