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So long Laptop Man
Posted by the lazy knight
on
1:18 AM
As a cricket fan the last twenty fours have been completely surreal. Late last night an insipid Indian team huffed and puffed to a humiliating loss to a young Bangladeshi squad. A couple of hours later came an even bigger shocker as Pakistan got knocked of the World Cup by a group of amateurs from Ireland. This piece was originally supposed to celebrate the eccentric nature of the results that the game of cricket often comes to produce. But celebration is probably the last thing on anyone’s mind as news filters in from the Caribbean of the sad, tragic and shocking death of Bob Woolmer, coach of the Pakistan team and unquestionably one of the giants of the modern game. His death is by far surely the biggest tragedy in the history of the tournament.
A man of limited cricketing accomplishments on the field but one of the sharpest brains off it, Woolmer represented the quintessential global cricketer. His Indian connection went all the way to Kanpur – where he was born to English parents in 1948. He went on to play county cricket after his family moved back to England and won nineteen inconspicuous caps for his country. A batsman with limited abilities and a modest test record, Woolmer never really set the field on fire. But till his death, Woolmer probably remained the strongest proof of the argument that a good coach need not necessarily be a great player. His coaching abilities essentially came into limelight during his days at the Warwickshire county team where under his tutelage played two of South Africa’s greats, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock. As a coach, Woolmer brought a kind of Midas touch and a professional attitude to the teams he coached. Warwickshire were a force on the English county scene when Woolmer coached them and post him they never really did attain those glorious heights.
But Woolmer’s life will always be remembered the most for his tenure as the coach of South Africa. Recently out of isolation due to apartheid, South Africa came out like a breath of fresh air to a cricketing world which in spite of being fully professional still followed an amateurish work ethic in most parts of the world. And nothing typified this approach better than their laptop wielding, theory prophesying, fielding emphasizing coach who would take his squad through innovative field drills and training methods. I still recall watching him gazing over his laptop sitting outside the dressing rooms when South Africa toured India in 1996. And those were days when desktop computers were themselves a rarity in Indian homes and the Windows software was barely a year old. As school kids we often derided this unaccomplished player, forever believing that it was foolish to think that cricket could be played on a laptop screen instead of out on the field. But Bob Woolmer was a man who always saw beyond when it came to cricket. The laptop was followed by the innovation of the ear piece which Hansie Cronje used to communicate with him at the 1999 World Cup. His period as the coach of South Africa will be remembered as the golden era of their cricketing achievements. It saw the coming of age of such greats as Allan Donald, Jonty Rhodes and of course that mercurial captain Hansie Cronje who forged one of the most successful partnerships with his coach. Bob also oversaw the induction of youngsters like Pollock and Jacques Kallis, two players he always believed were destine for greatness. And though South Africa failed in their two World Cup attempts under Woolmer in 1996 and 1999 and always fell one step short of beating Australia, the team of that period unquestionably carried an aura of invincibility around them much the same way as the Aussies do today. Whatever South Africa may have done after him and they might go on to win the current edition of the World Cup, yet they have never again been able to capture that image of solidity that surrounded them with Cronje and Woolmer in command.
And then of course came that stint in Pakistan, a team and a country that many believed would be Woolmer’s biggest challenge. He managed temporarily to bring a semblance of unity in a fractured dressing room, produced results after the morass Pakistan found themselves in when he took over and oversaw the flowering of the likes of Younis Khan and Mohd.Yousuf. But the erratic nature of Pakistan cricket and those who govern it, eventually Woolmer began to show signs of strains. The Oval test fiasco disappointed him no end and then of course the old bogey of dressing room conflicts and biased selections further put pressure on him. Taking a depleted side to the World Cup was always a challenging task and as Pakistan unexpectedly floundered against the West Indies and then against the minnows Ireland, Woolmer fall was complete. His image of shutting down his laptop and packing it in his bag after Ireland had hit the winning runs would probably remain the most ironical snapshot in cricket coaching. It is most tragic of course that it would also remain our last image of one of the greatest thinkers of the game. The laptop coach had shut his system and would not wake up the next morning. Coaches would come and coaches would go but very few will probably have such a impact on the game as Woolmer did. Every time a John Buchanan or a Greg Chappell peers into a laptop screen in the dressing room, it would bring back memories of the man who never became a great player but was undoubtedly the Vince Lombardi of modern day cricket. His death is a tragedy the World Cup and the game of cricket could well have done without.
A man of limited cricketing accomplishments on the field but one of the sharpest brains off it, Woolmer represented the quintessential global cricketer. His Indian connection went all the way to Kanpur – where he was born to English parents in 1948. He went on to play county cricket after his family moved back to England and won nineteen inconspicuous caps for his country. A batsman with limited abilities and a modest test record, Woolmer never really set the field on fire. But till his death, Woolmer probably remained the strongest proof of the argument that a good coach need not necessarily be a great player. His coaching abilities essentially came into limelight during his days at the Warwickshire county team where under his tutelage played two of South Africa’s greats, Allan Donald and Shaun Pollock. As a coach, Woolmer brought a kind of Midas touch and a professional attitude to the teams he coached. Warwickshire were a force on the English county scene when Woolmer coached them and post him they never really did attain those glorious heights.
But Woolmer’s life will always be remembered the most for his tenure as the coach of South Africa. Recently out of isolation due to apartheid, South Africa came out like a breath of fresh air to a cricketing world which in spite of being fully professional still followed an amateurish work ethic in most parts of the world. And nothing typified this approach better than their laptop wielding, theory prophesying, fielding emphasizing coach who would take his squad through innovative field drills and training methods. I still recall watching him gazing over his laptop sitting outside the dressing rooms when South Africa toured India in 1996. And those were days when desktop computers were themselves a rarity in Indian homes and the Windows software was barely a year old. As school kids we often derided this unaccomplished player, forever believing that it was foolish to think that cricket could be played on a laptop screen instead of out on the field. But Bob Woolmer was a man who always saw beyond when it came to cricket. The laptop was followed by the innovation of the ear piece which Hansie Cronje used to communicate with him at the 1999 World Cup. His period as the coach of South Africa will be remembered as the golden era of their cricketing achievements. It saw the coming of age of such greats as Allan Donald, Jonty Rhodes and of course that mercurial captain Hansie Cronje who forged one of the most successful partnerships with his coach. Bob also oversaw the induction of youngsters like Pollock and Jacques Kallis, two players he always believed were destine for greatness. And though South Africa failed in their two World Cup attempts under Woolmer in 1996 and 1999 and always fell one step short of beating Australia, the team of that period unquestionably carried an aura of invincibility around them much the same way as the Aussies do today. Whatever South Africa may have done after him and they might go on to win the current edition of the World Cup, yet they have never again been able to capture that image of solidity that surrounded them with Cronje and Woolmer in command.
And then of course came that stint in Pakistan, a team and a country that many believed would be Woolmer’s biggest challenge. He managed temporarily to bring a semblance of unity in a fractured dressing room, produced results after the morass Pakistan found themselves in when he took over and oversaw the flowering of the likes of Younis Khan and Mohd.Yousuf. But the erratic nature of Pakistan cricket and those who govern it, eventually Woolmer began to show signs of strains. The Oval test fiasco disappointed him no end and then of course the old bogey of dressing room conflicts and biased selections further put pressure on him. Taking a depleted side to the World Cup was always a challenging task and as Pakistan unexpectedly floundered against the West Indies and then against the minnows Ireland, Woolmer fall was complete. His image of shutting down his laptop and packing it in his bag after Ireland had hit the winning runs would probably remain the most ironical snapshot in cricket coaching. It is most tragic of course that it would also remain our last image of one of the greatest thinkers of the game. The laptop coach had shut his system and would not wake up the next morning. Coaches would come and coaches would go but very few will probably have such a impact on the game as Woolmer did. Every time a John Buchanan or a Greg Chappell peers into a laptop screen in the dressing room, it would bring back memories of the man who never became a great player but was undoubtedly the Vince Lombardi of modern day cricket. His death is a tragedy the World Cup and the game of cricket could well have done without.
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