Perhaps the most dramatic day of any World Cup, as the Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer is very sadly found dead in his hotel room. And this follows a mad morning in which Freddie Flintoff's pedalo antics have been revealed in the Sunday newspapers, leading to his removal from the England team in their match against Canada.

Here is how the BBC covered all this in their highlights programme. Note the slightly-too-cheery-to-be-appropriate continuity announcement, Manish Bhasin trying his best to sound sincere (and doing a good job on what must have been a very taxing day, but making one 'Colman ball': "...the death of Bob Woolmer, who died today"), Michael Vaughan attempting to keep a straight face in the toss interview when discussing the 'Fredalo' incident, the inclusion of a pre-made feature about Dwayne Smith and a very good obituary package.

All in all, a very good programme, considering the constraints that the production team would have been under. It was a very shocking time for the world game (no indication of the murder investigation at this stage, of course), and this World Cup never really recovered from the shadow that this day cast.

18.3.07
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