KEY POINTS:
ST LUCIA - A two-month long World Cup is hard on everybody, especially the team coaches who return home too early or stay until the end.
The murder of Pakistan coach Bob Woolmer has shocked cricket, but the fact many first assumed he had suffered a heart attack
after losing to outsiders Ireland shows the pressures of the job.
Pakistan's elimination was followed by that of fellow cricket powerhouse India, with coach Greg Chappell pilloried for their defeats by neighbours Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
John Wright, India coach from 2000 to 2005, knows exactly how Chappell is feeling.
"It is just the expectation. People are passionate about cricket," the New Zealander told Reuters. "There is pressure trying to win every game. If you don't, there is a lot of media criticism."
Even for the more successful coaches at this tournament, the sacrifices are tough.
New Zealand's John Bracewell believes international cricket coaches must constantly worry and be selfish in order to do well.
Bracewell's side have progressed to the World Cup second stage Super Eights in impressive fashion, winning all three group matches including a simple six-wicket win over England.
They are many people's dark horses for the title because of their team ethic, all-round game and determined attitude, a trait Bracewell has in abundance.
"As a coach you are constantly worried, that's what you do. It's part of the job description, it's the worry of the next game and how far ahead you can look," the 48 year-old told reporters last week.
Bracewell honed his coaching skills in the English county cricket with Gloucestershire before his elevation to New Zealand coach in Sept. 2003.
"Gloucestershire was a great lifestyle for our family, it was a great education in terms of how to work with a team over a long period of time," he said.
"This is probably a little bit more selfish. You don't see your family for long, long periods of time. So it's a bit harder but you do it by choice."
His achievements with the New Zealand cricket team, in a sparsely-populated country obsessed with rugby, are impressive.
Their recent 3-0 whitewash of Australia in the one-day Chapell-Hadlee series was great preparation for this tournament, but a defeat by Bangladesh in the World Cup warm-ups brought them back down to earth, which Bracewell thinks was positive.
"You just thrashed Australia 3-0, and you may need a little bit of a wake up call. As it turned out it was a good thing for us," he said.
Bracewell does not believe he has a particular method for coaching but is very keen on analysing the opposition as much as he can.
"It is about developing the New Zealand style, what fits in with where our players are in terms of their own maturity and that varies across the board," he said.
"So my style will change from a Ross Taylor coming in to Stephen Fleming, who has a damn sight more experience of international sport than I do.
"We are constantly scouting the opposition, we are videoing it from home. We are having it analysed and having it sent over to us. We are watching it here. So we are very aware in terms of our coaching staff of what is happening.
"But we are trying to keep the players in the point of now. It's a difficult balancing act."
- REUTERS