Master Tactician -- Best Coach Ever.

Playing career

He played English county cricket for Kent, initially as an all-rounder. He graduated to Test cricket with England in 1975 again, at first, as an all-rounder, having taken a hat-trick for MCC against the touring Australian cricket team with his fast-medium bowling. But he was dropped after his first Test, only reappearing in the final match of the series at The Oval where he scored 149, batting at number five, then the slowest Test century for England against Australia. Further batting success followed over the next two seasons, including two further centuries against Australia in 1977.

Woolmer was also a regular in England ODI cricket from 1972 to 1976. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1976.

But Woolmer's international career stalled after he joined the World Series Cricket break-away group run by Kerry Packer. Though he appeared intermittently in the Test team up to 1981, he never recaptured the form of the mid 1970s. He also took part in the South African rebel tours of 1982, a move that effectively ended his international career.

Coaching career

Woolmer had obtained his coaching qualification in 1968. After retiring from first class cricket in 1984, he emigrated to South Africa where he coached cricket and hockey at high schools.[3] He returned to England in 1987 to coach the second eleven at Kent. He went on to coach the Warwickshire County Cricket Club in 1991, the side winning the Natwest Trophy in 1993, and three out of four trophies contested the next year.

He was appointed coach of South Africa in 1994. In the next five years, South Africa would win most of their test (5 out of 10 series) and One-day International matches (73%). However, the side failed narrowly in their bid to make the final of the 1999 World Cup, and Woolmer resigned. He was appointed coach of the Pakistan team in 2005.

2006 ball-tampering row

Claims that South African players lifted the seam in 1997 were made by former International Cricket Council match referee Barry Jarman who alleged that during a triangular one-day tournament involving South Africa, Zimbabwe and India in early 1997 a match ball confiscated after just 16 overs — still in Jarman’s possession — bears the ravages of tampering by Woolmer’s team.

August 27: Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer was forced to defend his reputation when it was claimed South African players tampered with the ball when he was in charge of the team in 1997.

August 28: On the eve of Pakistan’s Twenty20 international against England in Bristol, Woolmer reacted to claims that South African players lifted the seam. At a loss to recall anything of the sort, the coach said: “I just cannot and do not understand why Barry Jarman has said this. As far as I’m concerned, it’s fiction. “As far as I know, I don’t ever remember a ball being taken off after the 16th over. I surely would have remembered it. “I wasn’t ball-scratching. I’m the coach. What does he think ... that I teach ball-scratching?” A mystified Woolmer has even taken the step of contacting the officials in the match he believes is in question — and he reports they are unaware of any wrong-doing. "Go and ask the two umpires in the same game that I’m supposed to have done this," he advised. "They will say that they don’t know anything about it." Woolmer, echoing the hopes of England captain Andrew Strauss, believes a return to the field of play can help mark a watershed which pushes the ball-tampering crisis of the past week off the front of the agenda. Woolmer is determined to set such thoughts aside. "We want to play cricket, entertain everyone as much as we can and win this series," he said ahead of the Twenty20 and the five one-dayers.

“We are looking forward to the cricket and getting everything else that’s happened over the past week out of the way. “What’s happened in the past week has not been good for cricket. We just want to leave that alone now and get on with the rest of the tour.” Woolmer remains optimistic that wish will prove achievable. “All the players want to do is forget what has happened. We think that is possible,” he said.

Woolmer had stated in 2006 that he believed that ball-tampering should be allowed in cricket and that a modification to existing laws should be made.