The Death of Bob Woolmer

Never before have so many theories chased so few hard facts as in the weeks following the sudden death of Bob Woolmer, the Pakistan cricket coach. If only everyone had paid more attention to his wife. "I don't see any conspiracy in his death," said Gill Woolmer shortly after her husband was found dead, hours after his team had ignominiously lost to Ireland in the cricket World Cup. The Jamaican police yesterday confirmed that the 58-year-old had actually died of natural causes, finally ending the media frenzy that characterized Woolmergate. Those silly theories included:

Strangled Woolmer was at first said to have been strangled, according to police forensics. Newspapers did their own dubious research: the News of the World staged a recreation of his death and quoted Dr Hilary Jones. "It all looks like murder," he concluded. Later, it was revealed there were no marks on Woolmer's neck. This, of course, proved to the tabloids that a "mafia-style" hitman had throttled him with a towel.

Poisoned Panorama authoritatively reported police saying that Woolmer must have been poisoned before he was strangled. Reports suggested the drug was a weedkiller related to the Agent Orange herbicide. Others found more sensational suspect substances: snake venom and the poison wolfsbane, which featured in the Harry Potter novels.

Killed by his captain Unfounded rumors of a row between the coach and team were reported. Nudge-nudge coverage implicated the captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was questioned by police and had - shock horror - changed his 12th-floor hotel room near Woolmer to the fifth floor before his death. Former cricket board officials were quoted saying there was allegedly friction between the pair and "Inzy" had "moods".

Slain by fans Three Pakistan cricket fans were being hunted by police at one point, according to reports. "They hung around team for days ... now they've vanished," screamed the Mirror. They were, naturally, "fanatical".

Murdered by match-fixing mafia A "silent assassin" was the most popular theory. It was reported that Woolmer had a "blazing row" with a bookmaker before he died and was to tell all in his autobiography (not so, said his ghostwriter). The Sun offered a catch-all verdict: "Killed by the mad, mad world of Pakistan cricket."

By April the media had cast doubt on police assurances that it was murder. No doubt the internet conspiracy theorists will witter on. Who, after all, is not persuaded by the Sun's headline 10 days after his death: "Al-Qaida link to Woolmer murder"?