by David Kenny
He also told the Irish reporters how he knew he was out of a job once this competition was over. His contract was up on 30 June but he revealed that he had gone to his office in Lahore shortly before leaving for Jamaica to discover that it had been given to someone else.
That was so typical of cricket in that exciting but exasperating land. It was to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, the patron of the Pakistan cricket board, that the board’s chairman Naseem Ashraf announced his resignation last week as the team were eliminated.
The sport of cricket is huge there, far bigger than any other; the route to vast millions for businessmen and enormous influence for politicians. It is also a rare way for the nation to show off on the world sporting stage. Arguably the greatest moment in Pakistan’s history since independence was when the team led by Imran Khan beat England in the 1992 World Cup final.
Khan launched a political career shortly afterwards but has been thwarted in his attempts to gain even a modicum of power.
The growing strength of the economies of south Asia, especially India, means the region is now the breadbasket of world cricket. Television rights for this event brought in $2 billion to the ICC, mostly from India. Such riches are in contrast to the modest sums paid to Asian players until relatively recently. Add to that a rapidly increased number of meaningless competitions – to satisfy TV companies – and the temptation for players to play at a level short of their best is clear.
Cricket has been in thrall to Asian gambling syndicates for many years. Millions of dollars change hands every time India or Pakistan play and it doesn’t take much to subvert the result. The notorious Cronjegate scandal saw three of the nine captains of the test countries banned for life for taking bribes to fix matches. Players from well-paid sides, too, such as Australia and England, were dragged into the scandal.
And now cricket has a murder on its hands. The fifteen members of the Pakistan squad who spoke movingly about their shock at Woolmer’s death at a memorial service on Wednesday night awoke to hour-long police interviews and compulsory fingerprinting on Thursday. It was a final humiliation for a demoralised side.
The Ireland team continued with their preparations for the second phase, upset at the death of a fellow sportsman and bemused at the atmosphere that built up all week. The entire Irish party was away from the hotel on the night of the murder, having travelled to the resort of Ocho Rios where their families and Irish supporters were staying.
Woolmer was a great and generous friend to Ireland, lobbying for extra opportunities for junior members of cricket’s family. Ireland coach Adrian Birrell, a South African who knew him well from his days coaching in that country, recalled their last meeting on Saturday night.
‘He was very humble. His last words to me were that “the toss didn’t matter. You would have won anyway.”’
MARK CONDREN
Cork, 2006
THE SUSPECT: Ian Bailey poses for photos in a lane near his home in Schull, Co. Cork. Bailey is the self-confessed main suspect in the murder of French woman Sophie Toscan du Plantier, who was found dead outside her West Cork home in December 1996.
Athlone, 2009
SNAP HAPPY?: The two Brians – Cowen and Lenihan – arrive for the ‘family photo’ at the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party think-in in September 2009.
Dublin, 2007
ONLY CHOKING: RTÉ presenters Pat Kenny and Ryan Tubridy at the launch of the State broadcaster’s autumn schedule.
India, 2008
ASHES TO ASHES: The funeral pyre of Dilip Sharma, a legendary folk singer, in the Guwahati region of India. In keeping with Hindu custom, Sharma’s body was laid out face down, with his head facing north. Logs were placed on his head and ankles so his body would stay flat. Four coins were then tossed on the flames to finance a voyage to heaven.
Dublin, 2006
SHELF LIFE: Writer Colm Tóibín in the study of his Dublin home.
Ethiopia, 2008
HUNGER: A malnourished child attends the GOAL-run Derara Health Centre in southern Ethiopia.
Cavan, 2004
GRIEF: Jamie Farrelly Maughan’s sister, Rebecca, and mother, Josephine Farrelly, at Jamie’s funeral in Cavan town in July 2004. The body of the fourteen-year-old had been found in the garden of a vacant house yards from her mother’s home, six days after her disappearance. An inquest later ruled that Jamie had died of an ecstasy overdose.
Wicklow, 2009
THE CRUEL SEA: The wrecks of the fishing trawlers Maggie B and Pere Charles lie in Arklow harbour. The trawlers, which sank in March 2006 and January 2007, claiming the lives of seven fishermen, were originally brought to Arklow in 2007 for a one-month survey. Four years later they remain as a poignant, if controversial, reminder of the tragedies.
Dublin, 2009
DECKED: The scene on Dublin’s O’Connell Street moments after a Luas tram collided with a bus. Scores of people were injured, including three seriously, in the accident. The driver of the Luas, who had to be cut from the wreckage, was later charged in connection with the incident.
Cork, 2009
OLD MASTER: Artist Martin Bengtsson at work in his caravan/studio on his remote farm in Co. Cork. A former spy, bodyguard, stuntman and self-confessed forger of paintings, Bengtsson was attempting to fund the raising of the Asgard II, which sank off the coast of France in 2008, by auctioning his painting of the famous ship.
Rathcoole, 2010
LAID TO REST: The body of Toyosi Shitta-bey, a fifteen-year-old Nigerian boy who was stabbed to death in Tyrrelstown, Dublin, is laid to rest at the Muslim burial ground in Rathcoole Cemetery. Two brothers were charged with Toyosi’s murder. Five months after his death, his family were forced to move home following racist death threats.
Dublin, 2010
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern relaxes beneath a portrait of himself at St Luke’s, his constituency office, in Drumcondra.
Dublin, 2007
PYRRHIC VICTORY: The family of Rachel Callally celebrate outside the Four Courts after her husband, Joe O’Reilly, was found guilty of her murder.
Haiti, 2010
CRUCIFIXION SCENE: A man prays in front of a crucifix, which was all that remained of a church in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake that devastated Haiti in January 2010.
Carlow, 2009
LIFE AT A GALLOP: Willie Mullins training one of his horses.
Galway, 2009
THE WEST’S AWASH: Hugh O’Donnell outside his flooded house in Gort, Co. Galway. The previous week his family, including his eighty-seven-year-old mother, had to be airlifted to safety from the rising waters that swamped their home. The flooding in November 2009, which was widespread in the south and west of the country, was the worst on record.