Pakistan cricket captain Inzamam-ul-Haq admitted his team face an agonising World Cup finale after police confirmed they were treating the death of coach Bob Woolmer as suspicious.

"It's a very tough time for me and the team because the coach is not with us," said Inzamam as his team took on Zimbabwe in their final World Cup game in a tournament overshadowed by Woolmer's death.

The 58-year-old former England Test batsman was found unconscious in his hotel room on Sunday, a day after Pakistan had been knocked out of the World Cup by Ireland's part-timers.

Late Tuesday, Jamaican police confirmed they were treating the death as suspicious.

"The post-mortem into the death of Mr. Woolmer was inconclusive," said Mark Shields, the deputy chief commissioner of the Jamaican police force.

"But having met with the pathologists and other medical personnel, there is sufficient information to continue a full investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Woolmer's death, which is now being treated as suspicious," he said.

"The International Cricket Council, the World Cup officials and all other relevant bodies have been informed of the investigation."

Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Pervez Mir said investigators were looking at the possibility of foul play.

"The police suspect that Woolmer may have been murdered," Mir told AFP.

He denied that the World Cup team had been ordered to stay in Jamaica until the investigation was completed and added that various rumours over the cause of the death had upset players.

Inzamam, who is playing his last one-day international and has resigned as captain in the wake of the tragedy, said his team was determined to win the match at Sabina Park to honour the memory of one of the game's most respected coaches.

"We will try to play to a high level, win the game and honour Bob," said the skipper.

"We have a good team but we have not been able to qualify for the next round."

Former Pakistan skipper Imran Khan said it was vital that the circumstances of Woolmer's death needed to be cleared up as quickly as possible.

"We really need to know what is behind it. I think they have to get to the bottom of it," Imran told AFP.

"This just adds to the whole tragedy and especially for Bob's family," he said. "I still assume he died of natural causes because he was a diabetic and that is closely associated with heart attacks."

Zimbabwe batsman Stuart Matsikenyeri said that all teams at the tournament were struggling to come to terms with the announcement of the shock criminal investigation into the death.

"It's a very sad day. Bob Woolmer had a huge influence on world cricket. But we have something to aim for and that is what we'll be doing. We will play as hard as we can."

Unlike Pakistan, Zimbabwe can still qualify for the next round but need to beat Inzamam's team to keep their campaign on track.

Another former Pakistan skipper, Ramiz Raja, said he hoped any suspicions over the Wooomer death would be quickly laid to rest.

"It is very unfortunate that the death is being treated as supicious. It adds another twist to the tale, which is more unfortunate," said Raja, who is working as a commentator at the tournament.

"Let's hope for the sake of cricket that the matter is solved and they put to rest any suspicion quickly."

The Pakistan team was expected to leave for home on Thursday after their final group game against Zimbabwe.

Former Pakistan international leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who was in charge of the team for Wednesday's game, admitted the squad was having a hard time coming to terms with the tragedy.

"There is a great vacuum because Bob was a part of the family," he said.

"When you lose a member of the family, we all know how bad it can be. The whole team is depressed right now. The boys -- and even me -- have been totally depressed."

Woolmer's coffin had been expected to be on the same flight as the team to London, from where it would be transported to South Africa, where he lived with his wife Gill.

On Monday, Gill Woolmer had revealed the pressures placed on her husband as coach of cricket-mad Pakistan.

"His job coaching there has been incredibly stressful," she said.

Woolmer had endured a tense build-up to the World Cup.

Last August, Pakistan were embroiled in a ball-tampering row against England at The Oval in London which led to the first forfeiture of a Test match in the sport's history.

He then saw his two best fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif fail drugs tests. They later had their bans overturned on appeal but were ruled out of the World Cup on fitness grounds.

(Article: Copyright © 2007 AFP)