'Woolmer was charmed by mystique of Pak cricket'

London, Mar 21: India-born late Bob Woolmer was ''charmed'' by the ''mystique'' of Pakistani cricket and its vibrant culture to take up the coaching job of the turbulent South Asian country, his British author-friend Ivo Tennant has revealed.

Tennant and Woolmer had begun work on a sequel to the late coach's autobiography that would take in his coaching stints of South Africa, Warwickshire for a second spell and Pakistan.

According to Tennant, Pakistan's ''unlimited'' cricketing talents led Woolmer to dream of challenging Australia's long years of domination.

In an article for The Times newspaper yesterday, Tennant said for all the controversies in his nearly three-year tenure, such as the sniping he received from his predecessor Javed Miandad and for all his spats with Shoaib Akhtar and behind-the -scene disagreements with Inzamam-ul-Haq and over the ball- tampering rumpus at the Oval last year, Woolmer had never regretted becoming the coach of Pakistan.

''I had heard a lot about the intolerance of failure when I took on the job. There was much to put me off many stories and rumours of match-fixing and ball-scratching and yet the talent emerging from the country appeared to be endless. Indian and Pakistani cricket, turning pitches, wristy batsmen, reverse swing, held a sort of mystique for me,'' Tennant attributed the Kanpur-born 'laptop' coach having told him.

''I felt I could see the game and coaching in a completely different light,'' Woolmer had said, re-inforcing his credentials as one of the innovative thinkers of modern cricket and his penchant for learning new things.

Tennant said Pakistan's culture and its religion fascinated him to the extent that he studied the lore of the land during the many quiet moments he had in Lahore when separated from his family in South Africa.

''He could sense a further attraction when he met the people, good-mannered and friendly, and even driving around the streets of Lahore and Karachi.

''I was met by a cacophony of sound. Yet traffic accidents were minimal and road rage almost non-existent,'' Tennant attributed Woolmer as saying.

Woolmer had even studied Koran in his attempt to have a beeter understanding of the Pakistani players, who were not shy of showing their bonding through their religion.

''While concerned about the all-pervading influence of the madrassas, Woolmer studied the Koran to understand the team that much better,'' Tennant wrote.

''Although he felt that they were too inclined to believe tales of black magic and superstitions, he valued the discipline that religion imposed, that there was no drinking and hence no need for curfews.'' Tennant narrated an incident when Woolmer and his wife, Gill, invited the Pakistani players to a barbecue in Cape Town during their South African tour this year.

''Woollmer was taken with the way they insisted on all praying together, on his lawn no matter that the food was almost overcooked. Woolmer, though, did not join in, telling them cricket was his religion.'' Woolmer felt Australia were taking the game to new levels and at the age of 56, he believed that he could not turn down a role in which he could challenge their primacy.

The 58-year-old former England Test cricketer's love for the well being of Pakistani cricket was summed by what Woolmer said shortly before his death: ''No experience, he knew, would ever be perfect in coaching and coaching Pakistan was not. There is much confusion as to how much effect the role has on performance and how much responsibility the coach should have. But I was encouraged by the structures being put into the grass roots of Pakistan cricket by the board and by the support I have been given by all those with Pakistani cricket at heart. It has been more than an interesting job, for every day has held something new.''

UNI