Whatmore advised rest by physician

Pakistan's foreign cricket coach Dav Whatmore has been under a lot of stress and tension in recent weeks and advised rest by a physician.

A report in the Daily Jang newspaper claimed that Whatmore's wife is also worried about his condition and seeking advice from close friends and relatives.

"Whatmore has been under a lot of stress and tension in recent weeks over the team's performance and this has left his wife worried," the report said.

According to the report, when his wife insisted on sending Whatmore to a party at a close friend's home in Colombo, the former Australian Test player was reluctant to go, but then agreed.

"But even at the party, according to eye witness accounts, Whatmore remained aloof and in one corner of the room, before a close friend and doctor engaged him in conversation.

"He then asked for advice from skin specialist Dr Saeed Jaffer, who had come from South Africa to watch the World Twenty20 matches.

"Whatmore rolled up his socks and showed him rashes on his leg, and the doctor, after examining them, told him that they were the result of him being under too much tension and stress," the report said.

According to the report, Whatmore's wife had been trying to ensure that he did not spend too much time cooped up in his hotel room, which had become a routine with the coach in recent weeks.

The story in Pakistan's most circulated Urdu newspaper is significant since Pakistan's last foreign coach, Bob Woolmer, died while coaching the team at the 2007 World Cup in the West Indies.

Woolmer's death was later put down to natural causes but not before the police in Kingston, Jamaica, said it could be possible murder.

Woolmer, who was with the Pakistan team from 2004 to 2007, was shattered after Pakistan's first round exit in the World Cup after losing to minnows Ireland.

Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters