WEEKEND HAPPENINGS basically turned the ICC Cricket World Cup on its head.

Worst hit was Pakistan, stunningly, then tragically through their loss to Ireland and the death of their coach, Robert Andrew 'Bob' Woolmer.

Another surprise was sprung by Bangladesh, who beat off a challenge on Saturday from their highly fancied Asian rivals India.

The situation regarding the much-loved and respected Woolmer, who was found unconscious in his hotel room at The Jamaica Pegasus on Sunday morning and later died, is most saddening.

It could have been brought on by the loss to Ireland on Saturday, which meant first-round World Cup elimination for Pakistan, one of the game's super powers.

Crippling blow

More than everyone else, but for Woolmer's family, it must have been a crippling blow to members of the Pakistan team on whom elimination probably hadn't even begun to sink in as yet.

At the press conference following the game it was evident that the team being ousted from the competition upset the coach, but he was very practical in the way he dealt with the loss and left the door open to continue his job when declaring: "I'd like to sleep on my future as coach of Pakistan."

He added: "This ranks very highly as one of my worst experiences ... but it is important that I remember that this is a game and things like this happen."

Apologised

Woolmer also apologised for the performance of his team and gave credit to Ireland for their win and the ICC for the work it does through its High-Perfor-mance Programme, which takes four cricketers from the associate nations and puts them through intense training over a particular period.

Even in his worst moment, inflicted by one of the associates, he had time to recognise their worth to the game and was fully supportive of their involvement in such numbers at the World Cup - a topic which had been a moot point until Saturday.

"I am fully supportive of more teams playing," he answered forthrightly when the contentious topic was raised.

Great human being

It shows how great a human being Woolmer was and how good he was for the game of cricket and how those who were with him in the Pakistan team must be feeling.

The ripple effects were instantaneous, though they had more to do with elimination from the World Cup than the coach's passing.

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the team's captain who at the press conference was non-committal, has since announced his retirement as captain and from one-day cricket after today's final game against Zimbabwe and only yesterday, Pakistan's cricket chief, Naseem Ashraf, and the three-member selection committee resigned.

Inzamam and Younis Khan will pick the team to play today's match, which will start the long journey to revive Pakistan.

Given the mood, as professional as they are, it cannot be easy to lift oneself for such a contest - a real dead rubber for Pakistan.

This was indicated in practice yesterday where they played scrimmage instead of cricket to lift their spirits.

Last hurrah

Probably, and possibly, thememory of Woolmer might just inspire them for this last hurrah against a Zimbabwe team which needs the win to boost its chances of qualifying. But you never know what you'll get from this very moody Pakistan team.

A victory for them would definitely not turn the competition on its head like Saturday's happenings when Bangladesh put aside India.

The Indians, though, have a chance to redeem themselves, but in a potential eliminator against Sri Lanka - a scenario which poses a real dumping situation for another fancied team as Bangladesh are expected to take full points off Bermuda.

Equally crucial will be the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka clash, as there exists a situation where three countries could finish with four points to set a run-rate decider.

And don't forget England - they do have a big one against Kenya. That's coming weekend. It could be time again for another lesser team to turn the World Cup on its head.

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