‘Bob was more than a coach to me’

BASSETERRE, St Kitts: The South African camp has been in a sombre mood since the news broke of the death of their former coach, Bob Woolmer, on Sunday. But of all the players in the squad who knew and respected him, none can have had closer ties than Jonty Rhodes, the team’s fielding coach, whose career was hand-moulded by Woolmer.“The two most important people in my cricketing career were Hansie (Cronje) and Bob and they’re both gone,” said Rhodes. “I just hope they’re not in heaven picking a team because I don’t want to be next,” he added.Under Woolmer’s tutelage, Rhodes was transformed into the most electric fielder in the world, but he still had to hold down a place as a batsman alone. “My cover drive was beyond help,” he said, “but Bob adjusted it. Technically he was a good coach, but he had passion, and for me it was more the passion and his attitude towards coaching. He made it exciting, and he made it fun. It was not about ‘you have to do it this way’. He actually gave us options,” he explained.“Every week we had the ‘Abuse the Coach’ award,” added Rhodes, “but Bob used to give as good as he got. I had an amazing relationship with him. He was more than just a coach, and he had a way of giving off of himself and it was something I could relate to. That made him more than a coach to me,” he expressed.Woolmer was in charge of South Africa’s fortunes for five years from 1994, and Rhodes admitted that his departure - in the aftermath of the team’s traumatic exit from the 1999 World Cup - was a big loss that they are only now beginning to overcome. “Similar to Hansie’s leadership he wasn’t easy to replace,” said Rhodes. “In the same sort of way he too was an all-rounder. He could be a batting coach and a bowling coach,” he said.