Who dunnit?

I'm not going to attempt to eulogise Bob Woolmer, nor am I going to attempt to comment on the facts of the case. There are plenty of people who far better equipped than I am to do as much.

Having been travelling for a couple of days, I was going to comment on the last four matches, and particularly on the fact that New Zealand further illustrated the devaluing of the tournament in resting a few key players for their game against Canada, and still winning without trying too hard.

The cricket was of course always likely to be upstaged by the Woolmer saga, and so it has played out. I'm really at a complete loss for words on this one. I'm not sure if the sporting world has ever seen anything like it, and it's telling, and not surprising, that people at work who don't know what a cricket bat looks like have now heard the story.

Leaving aside all the obvious questions and thoughts, one can only begin to ponder the impact that Bob Woolmer's murder will have on the cricket world.

The best case scenario, if there is one, for the game is that this was the work of a deranged fan, as I suggested a few days ago. That would of course be disastrous for Pakistan's image, but the game of cricket could emerge somewhat untarnished.

Really, the other options are even more unthinkable. I'll hope and assume it isn't a player, but the work of the match-fixing mafia? The implications of that are simply that the game continues to be rife with corruption, suggesting that there is little hope of stamping it out. Not a positive thought.