Ranking top 10 controversial coaches in cricket history

6. Bob Woolmer

Before coaching the Pakistan team, Bob Woolmer had coached South Africa where he had made them a heavyweight in the ODIs. His innovative coaching style also made the Proteas enjoy the best success rate in the format but an unfortunate exit in the 1999 World Cup eventually brought in his resignation. However, with the Pakistan team facing a dire problem of a head coach from the year 1999, PCB decided to appoint Woolmer as a head coach in 2004.

Woolmer’s stint as a head coach also reinvigorated the Pakistani team especially in the home conditions where they again started beating India and other Asian nations. Both in Tests and ODIs they maintained an impressive record under Woolmer’s presence and everything seemed to be good when the 2007 World Cup had arrived.

However, as we all know, right after Pakistan’s dreadful defeat against Ireland, Woolmer was found dead in his room which initially became a death from a heart attack. Further, while the Jamaican police also had surfaced the case as a potential murder, the final verdict did prove it as a normal death.

Nevertheless, despite the authorities declaring it as natural death, former South African cricketer Clive Rice claimed that Woolmer was murdered by some organized crime groups, saying “These mafia betting syndicates do not stop at anything and they do not care who gets in their way”. In fact, the former Australian legend Ian Chappell had also gone on record stating that he “doubts that he died of natural causes” and speculated that Woolmer may have been about to reveal “some misgivings”.