Bob Woolmer lived for his work, spreading his cricket philosophies to some of the sport's most far-flung outposts.

As coach of the Pakistan team, and one of the most respected coaches in the world, he had anything but a low-profile, laid-back job.

After all, cricket is THE national game in Pakistan, and supporters among its 165 million people are rivaled in their passion for the sport only by their neighbors in India.

So when Woolmer's team slumped out of contention at the World Cup in a stunning loss to Ireland in Jamaica on Saturday, angry fans poured into the streets back home, some burning effigies of team captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.

It abated only the next day, when news emerged that the 58-year-old coach was found unconscious in his hotel room and later died at the University of the West Indies hospital in Kingston, Jamaica.

No cause of death was immediately released, although one of his sons says the stress associated with failing to fulfill Pakistan's expectations must have contributed in some way.

"We've been speaking to the doctors and they think it is either stress or a heart attack," Russell Woolmer told a radio program in Cape Town, South Africa. "There was a lot of stress in his job, and it may have been stress that caused it. We're all very shocked, and we don't know what to do."

His was not an easy life. He changed hotel rooms every week for several months of the year on cricket tours and split time between an apartment in Lahore, Pakistan, and his home and family in South Africa.

Gill Woolmer told England's Daily Mirror newspaper on Monday that her husband, who cricket officials said had diabetes, had no recent health complaints.

"The last e-mail he sent me was short and a bit sad," she was quoted saying. "He said he felt very depressed at Pakistan's defeat. I think he was stunned, really.

"His job of coaching there has been incredibly stressful."

For Pakistan, the 1992 champion, getting beat by a World Cup rookie like Ireland would be akin to Italy beating Canada in Olympic ice hockey.

To illustrate the magnitude of the loss, Inzamam quit as captain and apologized to his countrymen. Former international cricketer Sarfraz Nawaz said news of Woolmer's death, sadly, was what kept tension from boiling over.

"With the death of Woolmer, the defeat of Pakistan will die down," he said.

Woolmer moved to Pakistan in 2004, replacing Javed Miandad, one of the country's all-time great players, as coach. That came with its difficulties.

He had coached South Africa from 1994-99 and was the International Cricket Council's high-performance director _ a job that took him from Amsterdam to Nairobi and Toronto working with developing teams _ before moving to Pakistan.

Not surprisingly, his death brought a torrent of tributes.

Cricket greats like Clive Lloyd, who led the West Indies to consecutive titles in the first two World Cups in 1975 and '79, talked about Woolmer as a gritty player for England in the 1970s.

International Cricket Council chief executive Malcolm Speed said Woolmer was a leading innovator in coaching.

"His life was devoted to cricket. He played, coached and commentated on the game all of his life," Speed said. "Many of us had many heated discussions with Bob because he had strong views about the way the game should be developed and he played a very important role with us in those years."

After the loss to Ireland, Woolmer told reporters he was upset and extremely disappointed but had no intention of quitting.

"It's what I do best. ... I'm not going to throw away coaching just like that," he said.