Dubai coach Kobus Olivier keeping spirit of Bob Woolmer alive

Denzil Pinto 05:19 10/03/2015
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  • Kobus Olivier is now coaching youngsters in Dubai

    Throughout his career, Kobus Olivier was taught by 10 coaches before his retirement in 2003. But there is one man who he admired the most and even calls ‘Mr Cricket’, having played under and alongside him, and that is Bob Woolmer.

    A week tomorrow it will be eight years to the day since Woolmer died in mysterious circumstances in Jamaica, aged 58, shortly after his Pakistan team went out of the 2007 World Cup.

    Olivier was distraught to hear “his good friend” had passed away, and speaks glowingly of a man he considered his mentor. He was just 12 when he first met the Briton at Auckland Park Primary School in Johannesburg in 1972. 

    “He came to coach the school for two full seasons and during that time we built a fantastic relationship,” said the former right-handed batsman, who is coaching children independently in Dubai. “He gave a lot of good advice. But one I do remember is the foundation for any cricketer, the technique has to be absolutely perfect between ages nine and 15.”

    He added: “He always used to say that up until 15 years old, children shouldn’t specialise in batting or bowling. When someone asks you whether you’re a batsman or a bowler, he would want you to answer that you are a cricketer.”

    Olivier put that advice into practice and later became a team-mate of Woolmer’s, the pair opening the batting together for Cape Town’s Avendale Cricket Club in 1981.

    “To open with him was a fantastic experience,” said Olivier, who last year enjoyed a spell as CEO of Cricket Kenya. “I really learnt a lot from him because he was a fantastic player and people could see that.”

    Olivier says he always knew Woolmer would go on to become a successful coach, partly given his extensive knowledge of the game.

    “Bob had a whole collection of books which he donated to Avendale Cricket Club,” he added. “Bob would read them all as he said that history and stats are all part of being a cricketer.

    “What impressed me the most about him as a coach is that he could look at someone batting in the nets for two minutes and immediately notice if there was something wrong with the technique. He could spot any error in your technique in four or five balls,”

    Olivier said of Woolmer, who helped him arrange his first professional contract with England’s Dover Cricket Club in 1998: “He had an unbelievable presence. When Bob used to talk, the guys kept quiet and listened.

    “When he was a coach for Kent, he studied every bowler in the English circuit, knew every wicket. If his team went to Durham, he would know what that wicket would do. I would call him a fantastic student of the game.

    “I don’t think there is anyone who played under Bob who hasn’t been influenced by him. It was just never a job for him, it was his passion. Every spare hour of Bob’s was spent on cricket, and he really was ‘Mr Cricket’. He was obsessed with cricket.”

    Now Olivier is passing on that knowledge to coach young cricketers in Dubai every week.

    “Bob made a huge impression on me,” he added. “I’m very fortunate to have him as big influence in my coaching career. I’m now using all that knowledge to mentor the children that I coach in Dubai.”

    Woolmer’s sudden passing on March 18, 2007 sent shockwaves through world cricket. Initially it was believed he had suffered a heart attack, but suspicions of foul play prompted a murder investigation.

    Eventually a jury in Jamaica recorded an open verdict with there deemed insufficient evidence to prove criminal activity or natural causes. But his legacy in cricket remains undiminished and lives on through Olivier and all those who learned from him. 

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