BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The shocking news of the murder of Pakistan’s cricket coach, Bob Woolmer “must in no way be allowed to tarnish West Indies cricket”, declared Sir Shridath Ramphal on Friday.

The former three-term Commonwealth secretary-general who now resides in Barbados, said that “as shocking and outrageous as it is, the tragedy is clearly not a West Indian thing; it is not our way of playing cricket”.

Just back from India where he attended the annual meeting of Trustees of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, established to commemorate the life and work of the assassinated Indian prime minister, Sir Shridath told the Observer: “Both the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the Jamaica Constabulary Force owe it to themselves, to the game of cricket, and fans worldwide and, of course, Woolmer and his loved ones to ensure the most thorough investigation into this tragedy.”

“But,” added Ramphal, a former chancellor of the University of the West Indies and foreign minister and attorney-general of Guyana, “the CWC tournament must go on. I applaud the decision to do so, as announced yesterday (Thursday) by the ICC’s chief executive officer, Malcolm Speed.”

Ramphal said he was quite familiar with the “thorough security system” at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel but would prefer not to advance any theory when told that reports were circulating that the murder of Woolmer by strangulation may be linked to “a profit motive” and that he had opened the door to his hotel room to someone he knew.

“It is not for me to offer a theory, a motive for this criminal act,” said Ramphal. “It is for the police and the ICC to do a thorough job. My concern is that the investigations should conclusively prove that it has absolutely nothing to do with us in the Caribbean and our cricket.”

The former chairman of The West Indian Commission said that so far as this CWC 2007 tournament is concerned, “the West Indies team has done very well. We are proud of the team and, obviously, look forward to more victories now that the right decision has been made to continue the game”.

Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room last Sunday and pronounced dead at hospital. However, it was not until some 48 hours later that the police disclosed that they were working on the theory of foul play. By Thursday came the shocking confirmation that he was murdered.

As the Jamaica police continues its round-the-clock probe, assisted by security personnel mobilised by the ICC, general security has been intensified for all the teams playing in the current CWC tournament.