An eventful life, a premature end
A timeline of the life and career of Bob Woolmer
Cricinfo staff
18-Mar-2007
Robert Andrew Woolmer: 1948-2007 • AFP
Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan coach and former England Test player, died aged 58 in a Jamaica hospital after being found unconscious on the floor of his hotel room a day after after Pakistan's early exit from the World Cup. Cricinfo looks back at the highlights of his career in cricket
May 14, 1948 Bob Woolmer is born in Kanpur, India
1968 Made his first-class debut for Kent. Scored an unbeaten 50
August 24, 1972 Played the first of his six one-day internationals, against Australia at Old Trafford. Took 3 for 33; did not bat
1975 Selected in England's World Cup squad, but broke his hand before the tournament started and forced to do 12th man duties
July 31, 1975 Made his Test debut against Australia at Lord's. Made 64 runs, and took a wicket
September 3, 1975 Scored a 495-minute 149 in only his second Test, at The Oval, to save the game against Australia
1976 Named one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year
June-July, 1977 Scored back-to-back centuries against Australia at Lord's and Old Trafford. His 137 at Old Trafford was his last fifty-plus score in Test cricket
1977 Signed up for the Kerry Packer-led World Series Cricket
1980 Returned to Test cricket, playing two matches against West Indies
July 7, 1981 Played the last of his 19 Tests, against Australia, again at Lord's. Made 21 and 9.
1982 Joined the rebel tour to South Africa, which ended his career as an England player
1984 Retired from first-class cricket and emigrated to South Africa, where he takes up coaching assignments in high schools
1991 Appointed director of coaching at Warwickshire
1994 Warwickshire win three out of four trophies, and are runners-up in the NatWest Trophy, with Woolmer as coach.
1994 - 1999 Took over as coach of South Africa. During that period, South Africa won 21 Tests out of 44, emerging victorious in ten Test series out of 15. South Africa emerged as one of the leading one-day sides during his tenure, winning 83 out of 111 matches between December 1994 and June 1999.
1999 World Cup His swansong as South Africa coach which came to an unfortunate end after South Africa were knocked out in a thrilling semi-final against Australia. He was in the news for different reasons at the start of the tournament when cameras caught him conversing with captain Hansie Cronje through a earpiece when South Africa took the field against India.
2001 Takes over as ICC's High Performance Manager, working towards the development of the game among the Associate countries, helping them compete in the 2003 World Cup.
March 2003 Was one of the candidates shortlisted for the coach of West Indies.
August 2003 Turns down an offer to coach Sri Lanka.
June 2004 - March 2007 Took over as Pakistan coach from Javed Miandad after Pakistan's home-series defeat against India. His contract was to run till the end of the 2007 World Cup. In this period, Pakistan win 37 out of 69 one-dayers and ten Tests out of 28.