Deputy police commissioner Mark Shields said the pathologist, whom he did not name, would be arriving to help Jamaican police investigate the high-profile death.

Police have called Woolmer's death "suspicious", but have stopped short of saying it was being investigated as a murder.

"I realise there is a lot of speculation out there but there is not going to be any more comment until we get a pathologist's report," Shields said.

The Jamaica Gleaner newspaper, citing an unnamed high-ranking police officer, reported that authorities found a bone broken in Woolmer's neck and that investigators were treating the case as a homicide.

He was found half naked, partially wrapped in a towel, the daily said.

"A bone in the neck, near the glands, was broken, and this suggests somebody might have put some pressure on it," the officer told The Gleaner. "We are now treating this as a homicide."

The Jamaica Observer newspaper, citing unnamed sources, reported that Woolmer's body had marks on the throat and that bones in the lower part of his face were broken.

Police spokesman Karl Angell dismissed as "pure speculation" reports that Woolmer was strangled. Shields declined comment on both reports and said he did not know the sources of information.

Woolmer's widow said it was possible her husband was murdered.

"I mean some of the cricketing fraternity, fans are extremely volatile and passionate about the game and what happens in the game ... so I suppose there is always the possibility that it could be that (murder)," Gill Woolmer told Sky Sports from her home in Cape Town, South Africa.