Story Highlights

• Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer died of natural causes, Jamaican police say
• Woolmer, 58, was found dead in hotel room in March during Cricket World Cup
• Death had been treated as suspicious amid claims Woolmer was strangled

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(CNN) -- Jamaican police have confirmed that Pakistan cricket coach, Bob Woolmer, died of natural causes and was not murdered -- as originally announced -- during the Cricket World Cup in March.

At a news conference in Kingston Jamaica, the commissioner of police, Lucius Thomas, said a review of the pathology by experts from Britain and elsewhere concurred that Woolmer had not been strangled.

Toxicology tests had also been carried out and found no evidence that he had been poisoned. Thomas said the investigation into Woolmer's death has been closed.

Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room in Kingston on March 18, the day after Pakistan were knocked out of the Cricket World Cup in a humiliating defeat to outsiders Ireland.

At first it was thought the 58-year-old had died from a heart attack. After an autopsy proved inconclusive, his death was termed "suspicious."

Five days later a Jamaican pathologist decided that Woolmer had died of asphyxia caused by manual strangulation.

Speculation was rife that Woolmer might have been murdered by a disgruntled player or match-fixing syndicate, and the episode cast a shadow over the whole World Cup.

Family relieved at outcome

Meanwhile, Woolmer's family expressed relief at the outcome.

"We hope that this matter will now be closed and that our family will be left to grieve in peace," his widow Gill Woolmer said in a media statement in South Africa, where the highly respected coach was cremated in May.

She also thanked Jamaican police for treating the family well over the course of the three-month investigation.

"We realise that this investigation has been problematical to conduct given the circumstances and the media spotlight that has been focused upon it," she said.

But Pakistan cricketers had few kind words for the police.

"It has been a traumatic period for all of us because of the unnecessary delay in resolving the cause of Woolmer's death. But finally we are relieved it is all over now," said Pakistan Cricket Board spokesman Ehsan Malik.

The announcement in late March by Jamaican police that Woolmer had been strangulated triggered speculation that irate fans or an illegal gambling syndicate lay behind the murder.

"There is no doubt Pakistan cricket came under great pressure because of the speculations and suspicions surrounding this high-profile case," Malik said.

Malik declined to comment on reports the PCB was contemplating filing for damages against the Jamaican police.

In South Africa, whose national team Woolmer coached from 1994 to 1999, the reaction combined relief for his family with anger at the tortuous investigation.

"Bob left a tremendous legacy in cricket, and to have to go through all this fumbling and bumbling without knowing what happened has been tough," said former opener Gary Kirsten.

South-Africa all-rounder Shaun Pollock said: "It still doesn't take away from the fact that Bob died, but at least this gives his family some closure."

Current South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said the finding that Woolmer died of natural causes would help clear the air in the broader cricket world.

"It's a selfish point of view and I know this news doesn't make his family feel any better, but cricket doesn't need more scandals," he said.