About this time of year every year I dust down my ageing dinner jacket and wonder whether I can put up with the agony of cramming myself into it for the annual Wisden dinner. This year I decided to pluck up courage and buy a new one so that I could enjoy the dinner and its associations with Spring and a new Summer without acute discomfort. But this year's event looks like being overshadowed by the unsavoury and deeply depressing case of Who Killed Bob Woolmer (and why). The cricket section of today's Times gives some indication of the understandable domination of the issue. Forgive the strange typography.
Bob Woolmer had few equals as a coach, but his native country were never to benefit
Ivo Tennant, who was working with the former England batsman on a new book, says his friend had been charmed by the nation
Woolmer found it impossible to believe that the captain of South Africa would contemplate an involvement with bookmakers
Jamaican police confirm British-born Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was strangled to death and launch a murder probe
Bob Woolmer 1948-2007
As Bob Woolmer’s biographer, I was privileged to tell the story of a man who fulfilled himself as a outstanding coach
I played for England with Bob Woolmer, but it was as a coach that I came to respect him
Due to recent events, questions are being asked of the ICC’s handling of corruption and whether they have reverted to complacency
‘Citizen of world cricket’ who was a highly respected coach of South Africa and then Pakistan
A search on the ever useful Wisden Archive gives even more information about Woolmer's career. Anyway, Wednesday (or is it Thursday morning) sees the publication of Wisden 2007 which is still under wraps but is sure to be yet another triumph for its editor, Matthew Engel, who is also publishing his Extracts from the Red Notebooks this week. Rarely have I enjoyed a set of proofs so much. Do grab a copy of the book - and simply enjoy.
