JOHANNESBURG, May 4: Slain Pakistani cricket team coach Bob Woolmer was on Friday cremated during a private family function in Cape Town, the family said. “Yes, my father was cremated this morning (Friday). The service was held at Doves (parlour) in Salt River at 11a.m (0900 GMT),” Woolmer's son, Dale, told AFP.

“It was private and only family members attended,” he said. The body of Woolmer, who is believed to have been poisoned while at a World Cup in Jamaica, arrived in South Africa last Sunday, six weeks after his corpse was discovered in a Jamaican hotel room. A public memorial service for the 58-year-old former South African coach, whose widow Gill lives in Cape Town's Pinelands neighbourhood, was held in the city last month.

Woolmer, who was born in Kanpur, India, was found dead in his Kingston hotel room on March 18, the day after Pakistan crashed out of the cricket World Cup in an upset loss to Ireland. His body was held in legal limbo for weeks after an autopsy indicated the former England Test player had been strangled, but investigators have yet to make any arrests.

The Kingston coroner in charge of the case ruled that Woolmer's body could not be released until after an inquest that had been scheduled to begin on April 23 was completed. Woolmer's death led to a fevered round of speculations. The most common theory is that his death was linked to match-fixing and illegal betting in cricket.

Some 30 police investigators are working full-time on the Woolmer case and more than 100 witness statements have already been taken. —AFP