THIS is the worst ever time in the history of Pakistan cricket. A World Cup exit at the hands of Ireland might have been reason enough but the murder of Bob Woolmer has removed any room for doubt.

Whether this will be publicly admitted or not by the police, until the murderer is found all of Pakistan's players and officials are prime suspects in this investigation.

The motive for the murder remains the biggest mystery. Like any other case there are many possibilities. Woolmer could have been killed by a mafia hitman or strangled by a friend who lost his senses in a moment of madness. We may never find out the exact truth but you can be sure that the Jamaican police will be further on with their investigations than they are willing to disclose in public.

Pakistan's players are wandering the Caribbean distraught and damaged, while the team management allows itself to be filmed in hotel rooms ogling the announcement of Woolmer's murder. I fail to understand why they agreed to that?

Much has been made of the book that Woolmer was supposed to be writing. His co-author, Professor Tim Noakes from South Africa, is adamant that Woolmer's book is confined to his views on cricket coaching. That might well be so, in which case there must be a second book.

This is the book that Woolmer told me he was writing about his experiences with Pakistan cricket. He was very clear about that and he had already formed various theories about why Pakistan cricket fails to succeed in the way that it should. Where is that book now?

Woolmer's death has understandably sidelined the debate about the future of Pakistan cricket. The team's win against a young Zimbabwe side was a reminder of what Pakistan's players can achieve when the conditions and their own temperaments do not conspire against them.

The team won it for Woolmer, and Zimbabwe and the umpires seemed determined that the result would be the right one too in the circumstances. Even Imran Nazir's record-breaking century was not enough to kid anybody that the losses to West Indies and Ireland were mere mishaps.

Nonetheless, Imran will feel that he has silenced some of his critics, although he is unlikely to persuade all of them unless he starts scoring consistently against the bigger cricket nations. You must have some skill about you, however, to plunder an attack for 160 runs.

The other interesting pointer was the head-to-head between Shahid Afridi and Danish Kaneria, a contest which Afridi's leg-spin won. Afridi's bowling looks increasingly convincing in international cricket and to become a truly valuable cricketer for Pakistan he needs to apply himself to make his batting more reliable.

The match, however, will be remembered for its emotion, and particularly that of Inzamam-ul Haq, who bid a tearful farewell to the Pakistan captaincy and One-day Internationals. For a period, as Pakistan crept their way back up the international rankings it looked as if Inzamam would succeed in defiance of his captaincy style. Such notions began to unravel during last year's tour of England, and the months since that summer have been hellish.

In departing, Inzamam reminded us of the wonderfully powerful and sublimely delicate stroke-play that has earned him the highest reputation in international cricket.

Whatever doubts critics have about his captaincy, nobody can question the brilliance of his batting for his country. His one, well documented, failing has been his reluctance to take the lead from the top of the batting order, preferring instead to lurk in anticipation of a lower-order rescue act.

In a comic ending to the match, Imran Nazir stepped into the hole created by the resignation of the board chairman and selectors by announcing Younis Khan as Pakistan's next captain. At that point it was better to mix tears of laughter with those of sadness for Inzamam-ul Haq, giant of Pakistan cricket.