The autopsy of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer, 58, who was found unconscious in his hotel room at the Pegasus Hotel in Kingston on Sunday, is expected to be performed this morning, according to Deputy Commissioner of Police Mark Shields.

In an interview with the Observer yesterday evening Shields said the police had been given the go-ahead to conduct the post-mortem to determine the cause of Woolmer’s death.

“The post mortem I expect will be done tomorrow (today) morning. And once the results are conclusive then we can take that to the coroner. If the cause of death is (determined to be) natural causes then this thing will come to a swift conclusion,” Shields said.

Until the results of the post mortem were provided however, Shields said, Woolmer’s death is being treated as “suspicious”.

“We treat all sudden deaths as suspicious until proven otherwise. We conducted an initial enquiry and we conducted a forensic examination of the room, and interviewed all the hotel staff on duty at the time. We’ve taken all the evidence we may need,” he said.

The police, he added, would however remain mum on the findings of the initial enquiry until the post-mortem had been completed.

“There are no results at this time, and if we do get anything we’ll hold it until we have the results from the post-mortem,” he said.

In the meantime, Shields also said the police were receiving the full co-operation of the Pakistani Cricket World Cup 2007 contingent.

“I have met with the Pakistan team and managers and they are giving us their full co-operation in getting this part done and getting Mr Woolmer’s body repatriated to his family,” Shields said.

According to the Constabulary Communication Network (CCN) Woolmer, who was also a batsman for the English cricket team in the 1970s, was found unconscious in his room by hotel cleaning staff.

It was subsequently reported by the Associated Press that Woolmer complained of breathing difficulties before the team left Pakistan for the Cricket World Cup, and also that he was diabetic. It was also reported that Woolmer sometimes wore an oxygen mask to help with his breathing.