Imran calls for Aaqib to fill the unwanted void

It was the toughest job in cricket, and now it might be one that nobody wants. But as the Pakistan team waited to catch the plane home from Jamaica, names were already being touted for the position of Pakistan coach. Imran Khan, the all-rounder turned politician, has called for the former pace bowler Aaqib Javed to be appointed.

"Pakistan have won two youth World Cups under him and he seems the ideal choice to take over as coach," said Imran. Aaqib was appointed head coach of the National Academy in Lahore in January after stints with the Under-15s, Under-19s and the A team, and had worked as fast-bowling coach at the Academy with Bob Woolmer, who had been masterminding the youth set-up.

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Imran now has his own political party and a seat in parliament, and in the aftermath of Pakistan's disastrous World Cup campaign he has been critical of the country's president, General Pervez Musharraf, who is patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board.

"Since 1999, Musharraf has changed four board chairmen and yet we have got no results. Pakistan cricket must be run on a constitutional and democratic basis."

The players' departure from the Caribbean had been delayed while they were finger-printed and questioned about the last hours of Bob Woolmer's life. They were due to fly home last night but were struggling to find seats.

In spite of the sombre mood surrounding Pakistan cricket, they will expect a hot reception from the passionate cricket public after the defeat against Ireland, the humiliation of an early exit and the rumours of match-fixing. Effigies of Woolmer and the outgoing captain Inzamam-ul-Haq (below) were burned in the streets and the players' houses stoned after they lost to Ireland last Saturday.

The same had happened after their shock defeat to Bangladesh in the 1999 World Cup in England, a match which was regarded as a possible instance of betting influencing the resultin the subsequent match-fixing investigations by Judge Qayyum.

Nasim Ashraf, who resigned as the chairman of the PCB after the Ireland match, said the side felt "unbelievable stress and trauma. Their families are very perturbed, very anxious." He revealed that Wool-mer had sent him an email on the morning of his death, announcing his retirement as coach.

The inevitable turmoil in the board is no surprise, since the leading figures of the governing body are routinely replaced. The position of Pakistan coach has been even more vola-tile. Woolmer had held the post for three years after a decade in which nine in-cumbents came and went.

The esteem in which Woolmer was held by Inzamam was testament to the status he achieved in Pakistan. "He was a good man. Whenever any of the boys had a problem, he'd sit with them, and we were very attached to him," said Inzamam. "After the game [against Ireland], he went to all the boys and cheered them up. He told them that these things happen in life. That was his greatest quality. Even in the bad times, he would think positive."

Pakistan cricket has been dogged by scandal. The Oval Test last summer had to be abandoned when Pakistan refused to play on after being accused of ball-tampering by umpire Darrell Hair. Then Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif tested positive for the banned substance nandrolone. The PCB overturned their bans, to the World Anti-Doping Agency's fury.

Musharraf added his own tribute in bestowing on Woolmer the prestigiousStar of Excellence civil award posthumously. "Pakistan cricket shall forever be indebted to his services," the president said. "This nation will always remember him for the joys he brought into the lives of millions of Pakistanis."