Pakistan coach Woolmer dies following defeat

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Mar 19 (Reuters) Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has died aged 58 after being found unconscious in his hotel room the morning after his side's shock World Cup exit, the team announced.

''Robert Andrew Woolmer has passed away today and the entire Pakistan team and management are shocked and saddened by his passing,'' team spokesman Pervez Mir said reading a statement.

Woolmer had seen his team crash out of the World Cup on Saturday after a shock Group D defeat by debutants Ireland at Sabina Park.

''We've been speaking to the doctors and they think it is either stress or a heart attack,'' Woolmer's son Russell Woolmer told South African radio station 702 from Cape Town.

''There was a lot of stress in his job and it may have been stress that caused it.

''We're all very shocked and we don't know what to do. I've lost an amazing man to me.'' It has yet to be confirmed if Woolmer died in hospital or his hotel room, where Mir said staff had discovered lying on the floor at 1030 (2100 hrs IST).

Mir added Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq was 'totally shocked and bewildered' with the news.

SHOCK DEFEAT The former England batsman was made coach of Pakistan in June 2004. The job of coaching the national team of the cricket-crazy country is considered one of the most pressurised in the sport.

Woolmer, who had a distinguished career as a coach, appeared to take the defeat by Ireland in his stride following the match.

His contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board was due to expire on June 30 but it was widely expected he would part company with them after the World Cup which is scheduled to finish on April 28.

''I would like to sleep on my future as a coach,'' Woolmer said in yesterday's post-match news conference.

''It's what I do best, what I try to do best. Therefore I'm not going to throw away coaching just like that.

''However, internationally I will give it some thought.

Travelling and being involved non-stop in hotels and so on takes its toll.'' Mir confirmed that Woolmer had been 'perfectly fine after the game'.

''I had a very good chat with him and he was thinking about doing a number of things for Pakistan cricket. He had a lot of plans and wanted to go back and speak to the chairman.'' Before turning to coaching, Woolmer played 19 tests and six one-dayers for England during the 1970s.

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