DHAKA, March 23: Bangladesh's cricket board said Friday it was shocked and distressed after it was announced that Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer had been murdered. “The news that Bob Woolmer was murdered has shattered us. It is a quite unexpected event which we cannot yet quite believe,” board chief executive officer Mahmudur Rahman said.

“Our hearts go out to his family and we hope that the investigation can get to the bottom of his murder so the perpetrators can be punished,” he added.

Woolmer, 58, died on Sunday in Kingston, Jamaica, after being found unconscious in his hotel room following Pakistan's surprise World Cup defeat by Ireland.

Jamaican police have said he was strangled, prompting speculation that he might have been killed because he was about to reveal what he knew about alleged match-fixing.

The cricket board earlier this week praised Woolmer, who had coaching stints in Bangladesh in 2003, as a “fine cricketer ... and a top class coach.”—AFP