Inquest hears of blood, vomit in Woolmer death

A Jamaican chambermaid said on Tuesday she found a bloodied bed, an overturned chair and a smell like alcohol and vomit when she stumbled on former Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer's unconscious body in his Kingston hotel room earlier this year.Chambermaid Bernice Robinson, the first witness to testify as a long-awaited inquest opened into Woolmer's startling death during the Cricket World Cup, said his body lay blocking the bathroom door of room 374 at the Pegasus hotel, one of his feet stretched up to the wash basin."I started to look around the room, and I noticed that there was a chair that was overturned," she said."There was blood on the pillow and the bed. I continued looking around the room and didn't see him. And then I went into the bathroom. The door was closed, I knocked, got no response, then I tried to open the door but I couldn't open it as something was pressing against it."Robinson said she panicked and shouted, "Sir, sir, is everything OK?" before running for help. She recalled a smell "like vomit and alcohol mixed together" and saw vomit on the bathroom floor.Her discovery of Woolmer's unconscious body on March 18, a day after Pakistan crashed out of the World Cup following an ignominious defeat by underdogs Ireland, kicked off a maelstrom that gripped the international cricket world for months.Jamaican police initially said Woolmer was strangled and launched a murder investigation. That touched off frenzied media speculation that the former English international player, 58, might have been killed by a gambling syndicate or disgruntled Pakistani fans or players. But the Jamaican police delivered another shock in June by saying they had made a mistake about the murder claim and that pathologists from Canada, Britain and South Africa had found Woolmer died of natural causes.

Dr. Nathaniel Carey, a British pathologist who examined the autopsy report confirmed that view."Based on the photographs that I saw, and the histology results, I came to that conclusion," he said. "Mr. Woolmer had a heart condition and he had diabetes, plus he was found behind a door as if he had suffered an attack."However, the pathologist said it was possible someone had been with Woolmer around the time of his death."Would you agree with me there could have been a third party in Mr. Woolmer's room at the time of his death," Director of Public Prosecutions Kent Pantry asked Carey."Yes, there could have been," Carey replied.Coroner Patrick Murphy, who is presiding over the inquest, took careful notes during the testimony and told a jury of six women and five men the inquest would probably last until Nov. 9. He said it would be up to them to decide Woolmer's cause of death.

Ponting: Cricket is our Number One sport

No wonder cricketers love coming to Mumbai. Especially from abroad. They are gobbled up by corporates as their brand ambassadors. It was, not one, not two, but three such occasions in India's Commercial Capital on Monday evening.No sooner had the teams checked in at the team hotel than Australian captain Ricky Ponting was named brand ambassador of automotive products Valvoline Cummins Ltd. Both teams arrived late in the afternoon after their travel was delayed by a bird hit. The accident occurred 10 minutes after take-off from Nagpur. Five blades of one of the engines were damanged by the bird."I always love coming to Mumbai," Ponting said. "Whatever product I am associated with, either on and off the field, I am associated with the best," he said.There was only one cricket question asked at what was a business press conference. And it was related to the alleged racism remarks made by Andrew Symonds after the Vadodara ODI.

Asked why so much hue and cry was made on the Symonds issue, Ponting said: "I don't think Andrew Symonds has made a big deal of the racism remarks. It were the Indian journalists who made me aware of what happened. Andrew has dealt with it in the most sensible way. He did not run into anybody and tell what happened."Ponting also disagreed that cricket was not the number one sport in Australia. "Cricket is Australia's favourite and number one sport. It is certainly a big business in Australia, and with our success in the last 10 years, the game is spreading not just in Australia but all over the world."

Australian cricket team's plane returns to Nagpur

THE Australian cricket team was involved in a minor emergency yesterday when its plane was forced to return to Nagpur Airport after hitting several birds, believed to be eagles.The birds were sucked into both engines just after the 8.55am take-off.Ricky Ponting's men knew they were in a spot of bother after the plane's captain announced there was "some bad news"."We have hit a number of birds and this may have damaged an engine. We will need to return to Nagpur for maintenance," the pilot said.The Jet-Airways plane was carrying a full load en route to Mumbai, including both the Indian and Australian squads and touring media.Passengers were served breakfast as the plane sat on the tarmac for 30 minutes as attempts were made to repair the engine.The Australians eventually took to the skies at 1.30pm local time.It was another twist in an eventful tour for the Australians, with Andrew Symonds racially abused by spectators and players embroiled in sledging controversies.

Andrew Symonds drew inspiration from race controvers

Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds said the controversy over his racial abuse led him to an unbeaten century in the sixth one-dayer against India here.Symonds smashed 107 off just 88 balls to shape up Australia's series-clinching 18-run win and banish unpleasant memories of the previous game at Vadodara, where he is alleged to have been subjected to monkey chants."I drew on that for my innings today. It helped me get going," Symonds told reporters after the match.The 32-year-old hard-hitting batsman, the national team's only black player, also said he was disappointed by the reluctance of the authorities concerned to deal with the matter."I didn't mind when it happened. What disappointed me was that someone and somebody denied it happened. It's not in my hands, but for the powers to be, to deal with the matter," he said.The International Cricket Council has demanded an explanation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the incident, but a board official denied receiving any communication"We have noted media reports of racist chanting during the India-Australia ODI in Vadodara on Thursday and also of racist abuse directed at South Africa players and team officials in Lahore," ICC Chief Executive Malcolm Speed said in a statement Sunday.

"In the light of those reports we have written to both the BCCI and the PCB (on Saturday) asking for their comments on the incidents," he said.However BCCI's secretary Niranjan Shah said they had not received any ICC letter and that it would be tough for anyone to prove that such an incident happened.Symonds meanwhile also used his newspaper column to attack some members of the Indian cricket team.Writing in the national stable of News Limited newspapers, Symonds said the Indians had become "cocky" after their win in the Twenty20 World Cup and the Australian team thought the reaction to that victory was "over the top"."Some of the things their players have been given and the way they are treated, it's like they are rock stars and princes," he wrote."It's been irritating because it's been in our face. We see them on television every day."Symonds said while he got on well with some of the Indian players, such as Sachin Tendulkar, others had needled the Australian team unnecessarily."There are a couple of them who seem to spark things," he said."(Shanthakumaran) Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh are the ones we are clashing with most."The thing that annoys us the most is when they are going well, they will have a shot at you. But when they aren't going well they forget to shake hands at the end of the game."The teams now travel to Mumbai for the last game of the seven-match series which Australia have clinched 4-1.

Akhtar needs psychiatric help, says Pakistan cricket chief

Pakistan's cricket chief hit out at Shoaib Akhtar, saying the controversial paceman damaged the nation's cricket image and needed psychiatric counselling.Akhtar was banned Thursday for 13 international matches and fined 3.4 million rupees (56,000 dollars) primarily for hitting a teammate with a bat."Akhtar hurt Pakistan's image and got the maximum punishment. Some form of counselling from a psychiatrist is compulsory for him," Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf told reporters.The 32-year-old Akhtar has apologised for hitting Mohammad Asif with a bat after practice three days before the start of the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last month.Pakistan team manager Talat Ali, who reported the incident to the PCB last month, had also recommended counselling for the troubled paceman whose ban dates back to the matches in the Twenty20 World Cup.

He will be available for the last of five one-day matches against South Africa to be played in Karachi on October 29.Ashraf said the ban and fine -- the biggest ever imposed on a cricketer at international level other than in match-fixing -- should set an example for all players."We have set an example as Akhtar has got the maximum possible punishment and he has accepted them. Akhtar has accepted his mistake and we hope that such a sad incident will not happen again," said Ashraf.But he said Akhtar must ensure such an incident never happens again."Akhtar will be under a probation of two years and in case of any further breach of code of conduct there will be grounds for a life ban and I hope Akhtar has learnt his lesson," said Ashraf.Akhtar and fellow paceman Asif were also involved in a doping scandal last year. They tested positive for nandrolone which resulted in a two-year ban on Akhtar and one year on Asif. The bans were overturned on appeal.

Pakistan will take time to replace Inzamam - Lawson

Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson believes it will take a long time for the team to mould a replacement for retired batsman and former skipper Inzaman-ul-Haq.The 37-year-old premier batsman finished his playing career in the drawn second test against South Africa on Friday, falling three runs short of becoming the country's highest scorer."It is not going to happen overnight," Lawson told reporters."It will take a year or two before we can find a replacement for Inzamam. He was a class player with experience which comes with time."The former Australia bowler added it would be unfair to expect any of the current crop of players to start matching Inzamam's batting exploits immediately."There are a couple of good players in line but they will take time to mature and establish themselves as Inzamam did himself," Lawson said.Inzamam retired after scoring 8,830 runs in tests and 11,739 in one-day internationals but by only accumulating 17 in his final two innings, the batsman was unable to pass Javed Miandad's record aggregate of 8,832.Miandad led the tributes for Inzamam on Saturday.

"I was expecting him to break my record. I would have been happy if he had done it, because I have had a teacher-student relationship with him," Miandad told Reuters. "Given his service to Pakistan cricket and the quality player that he was, he deserved the record. I enjoyed watching him bat."Miandad, who captained the side when Inzamam made his debut in 1992, said it was a sad reflection on the state of Pakistani cricket that it was not producing more players of his stature."We need to look at our system and ensure we groom more quality batsmen for a better future."Former captain, Wasim Akram said that Inzamam had retired at the right time."He was one of the best batsmen produced by Pakistan along with Miandad," Akram said."The number of runs he scored is testimony of his greatness. It was sad to see him go but every player has to take a bow someday."

Symonds ready to move on following racist abuse

Australia's Andrew Symonds says he is ready to move on after suffering racist abuse from spectators during Thursday's one-day international against India in Baroda.The big all-rounder was subjected to monkey noises while he was fielding."You have to be pretty thick-skinned to survive in the Australian dressing room, let alone out on the paddock," Symonds was quoted as saying in Australian newspapers on Sunday."I am a pretty liberal sort of bloke but racism is a big issue in world sport, not just cricket."It is a sensitive issue and guys have been made an example of in the past, but what do you do in this instance if it's coming from the crowd? Life goes on."Australia captain Ricky Ponting, meanwhile, has called for the International Cricket Council (ICC) to take action."I know the match referee knows about it, if the ICC gets it in the report they have to do something," he said. "Racism is unacceptable anywhere in the world, you don't expect it to happen when you step out on the field."We did not expect it and we do not expect it to happen again."Australia play India in the sixth one-day international in Nagpur on Sunday. The touring side lead the series 3-1.

Shoaib eligible to play final one-dayer v Sout

Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar will be eligible to play in the fifth and final one-day international against South Africa on Oct. 29, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Friday.The board's disciplinary committee on Thursday imposed a 13-match ban and 3.4 million rupees ($56,000) fine on Shoaib for four misconduct charges, including hitting team mate Mohammad Asif with a bat before the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB's chief operating officer, clarified that the ban period had started the day after the incident on Sept. 7 when team manager Talat Ali sent Shoaib home."Since his ban period started immediately it covers seven matches of the Twenty20 World Cup and also the two tests against South Africa," Naghmi told Reuters."This means he will have completed his 13-match ban by the fourth one-dayer and will be eligible for selection for the final game in Karachi," he said.Shoaib has played 43 tests and 133 one-dayers but has not taken part in any competitive cricket since he limped out of the second test against South Africa in January with a hamstring injury.The 32-year-old has played just one test and four one-dayers since February 2006 due to fitness and other problems.He was suspended for two years in 2006 after testing positive for the banned substance nandrolone but was later cleared of doping offences.

Pakistan's Butt fined for umpiring outburst

Pakistan's vice captain Salman Butt has been fined 50 percent of his match fee for his outburst against some of the umpiring decisions in the test series against South Africa.International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Alan Hurst said Butt had been fined after being found guilty of public criticism and inappropriate comment on a match-related incident or match official.Butt criticised some umpiring decisions on Thursday during the second test, saying they had gone against Pakistan.

Symonds racially abused in India say Australian cricket officials Sayz:

Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds was racially abused with monkey chants during his side's one-day win over India in Vadodara, Cricket Australia said Friday.Cricket Australia said the national side's only black player complained about the noises made by some sections of the crowd as he fielded near the boundary during Thursday's victory.A Cricket Australia spokesman said the organisation would not be seeking further action over the incident."The matter will be left in the hands of the local authorities," he told AFP.The abuse was widely reported in Australian newspapers, with the Sydney Morning Herald saying the monkey chants were similar to those that have plagued European football for years.Sydney's Daily Telegraph said thousands of spectators were involved in the abuse, prompting ground authorities to flash the International Cricket Council's anti-racism code on the replay screen.The Australian newspaper quoted Baroda Cricket Association chief executive Makarand Waingankar as saying he was disappointed with the Vadodara crowd's behaviour."Like any cricket centre we cannot tolerate this sort of behaviour; racism should not exist in India," Waingankar said.Symonds has been involved in a running feud with Indian paceman Shantha Sreesanth during the tour of the subcontinent.The Indian series has been clouded by ill temper, stemming in part from discontent within the Australian camp at the way India's players celebrated their semi-final win over Australia in the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa.