Friday, March 23, 2007

Allan Donald Statement on World Cup.

Allan Donald has told Sky Sports News that he feels the World Cup should not carry on after the murder of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer.

The 58-year-old died on Sunday and Jamaica police said on Thursday night that the cause was "manual strangulation".

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed was present at the press conference and said that the World Cup would continue, something Donald, who played under Woolmer for the Proteas, does not agree with.

However, he admits his former national coach would not have wanted the tournament to stop, even though the matter is at the forefront of everyone's mind.
"My personal view is no (it should not carry on)," Donald told Sky Sports News.
"But knowing Bob, he would have wanted this to go ahead. I just think that everyone right now is going out there and thinking about what has happened.
"Like Malcolm Speed said, everyone has got to be strong through this hour of pain and continue with the World Cup."
Donald, who described the former England batsman as "one of the best coaches who walked the earth", admitted he couldn't understand why someone would want to murder Woolmer.
"It was very sad on Sunday, but it was more brutal today," he said. "It's devastating. It puts cricket in a different light now. We're as clueless as anyone else to know why someone would want to murder a gracious man.
"He wouldn't harm a fly. All this stuff that has come out now about the transcripts that never reached him that would have come out in the book, that's scary stuff.
"We'll wait and see what the outcome of it all is."
But Donald's sentiments were not shared by England captain Michael Vaughan, who expressed his belief that the tournament should continue if cricket hoped to rebuild its tarnished reputation.
"I can understand his emotion and his thoughts but I think the best thing for the game is to show it in the great light that it is and go out there and play," Vaughan said.
"There is some terrific talent on show, some great teams and over the next few weeks we're going to continue talking about this shocking incident, but hopefully we can show the world that the game of cricket is a good sport and we can produce some good performances and tremendous games along the way.
"The game has taken another battering and that's why I believe it should go on and try and get it back so that people are talking about good games of cricket again because it has taken a big hit."
England are due to face Kenya in their final Group C match, to be played in St Lucia on Saturday.

Are you with Allan Donald?

No comments: