Obituary : Bob Woolmer The Martyr

Bob Woolmer

Bob Woolmer, who was found dead on Sunday March 18 aged 58, was a gifted batsman for Kent and England and later made his name as a coach, most recently for the Pakistani national side; in fact, he arguably made more impact as a coach than he had as a player.

A genial man with an irresistible air of self-confidence, Woolmer was a right-handed batsman of touch, timing and considerable grace. He was capable of great fluency in the off-drive, and there could be a casualness about his strokeplay which sometimes invited comparison with Colin Cowdrey. He was a useful right-arm medium-pace bowler who could swing the ball in favourable conditions, and he was an accomplished close fielder.

As a successful coach (first for South Africa, then for Pakistan) he was a pioneer of the use of computers to monitor players' performances, something that is now commonplace. He used computers to show, for example, where opposing batsmen liked to score their runs, originally drawing on his own experience of batting against Middlesex when they were captained by the master tactician Mike Brearley.

Woolmer once recalled: "Knowing I liked the cover-drive, [Brearley] had Mike Selvey bowling at me wide of off stump, with two slips and two gulleys. In 45 minutes, I scored 12. Then I chased another wide one from Selvey and was caught at second slip."

In the 1996 World Cup, when Woolmer was coaching the South Africans, England's Graeme Hick was a victim of Woolmer's computer analyses. These had revealed that, if Hick could be prevented from scoring for a time, he would be likely to flick a delivery on off-stump into the air towards midwicket. Fanie de Villiers duly sent down the appropriate ball, and Brian McMillan gratefully took the catch.

The son of a British businessman who had captained Uttar Pradesh at cricket, Robert Andrew Woolmer was born on May 14 1948 at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, and spent part of his childhood on the sub-continent. He went to Skinners' School, Tunbridge Wells, then worked as an order clerk at ICI before teaching for four years at Holmewood House prep school.

Woolmer played cricket for Kent from 1968 until 1984, gaining his county cap in 1970. He had joined a strong Kent side, and his apprenticeship was a relatively long one before, in 1976, he began to open their batting after a long period late in the order. That season he made 1,749 runs at 47.27. In the previous year he had taken a hat-trick for MCC against the Australians, and had also made his Test debut for England, in a drawn match against Australia at Lord's. In that match he showed promise with the bat, scoring 33 and 31, and enjoyed some distinction with the ball: in the first innings he had Edwards, Australia's top scorer, lbw when only one short of a century.

Much better was to come in his second Test: Woolmer was England's saviour after they were forced to follow on against the Australians. He managed to keep at bay the lethal fast-bowling pair, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson, for eight and a half hours, ending with 149 runs, his highest score in Test cricket.

Two modest series followed, against the West Indies in 1976 and in India in 1976-77. But in 1977 Woolmer scored centuries (120 and 137) in successive Tests against Australia at Lord's and Old Trafford. In only seven Tests against Australia (including the centenary Test) he had already scored three centuries - as many as May, more than Washbrook, Woolley, Grace and Graveney.

He was to score two more Test centuries - also against Australia - but interrupted his career by signing for World Series Cricket in 1977. What he gained financially, he lost in terms of the momentum of his Test career, which he ended for good by joining the rebel South African tour of 1981-82; as a result he was banned from Test cricket for three years.

He had played his final Test against Australia at Lord's in 1981. Batting at number three he made 21 and nine, the match ending in a draw.

Woolmer turned his attention to coaching in South Africa, first at Avendale CC. From 1991 to 1994 he was in England as director of coaching at Warwickshire, but then returned to South Africa as coach of the national side, remaining in the post until 1999.

There followed a spell back at Warwickshire (2000-02) and as the International Cricket Council's High Performance Manager (2002-04) before, in June 2004, it was announced that he would take over as the new coach for Pakistan; he was still in that role at the time of his death.

Woolmer played a total of 19 Test matches for England, scoring 1,059 runs at an average of 33.09.

In all first-class matches he scored 15,772 runs at an average of 33.55, including 34 centuries and 71 half-centuries. His highest score was 203, for Kent against Sussex at Tunbridge Wells in 1982.

Woolmer took 420 wickets in first-class cricket, at 27.85 runs apiece. He was rarely required to bowl in Tests, taking only four wickets (at 74.75).

Bob Woolmer was the author of three books: an autobiography, Pirate and Rebel (1984); Skilful Cricket (1993); and Woolmer on Cricket (2000).

He married, in 1974, Gillian Hall, who survives him with their two sons.