Peter Roebuck

Roebuck was born in the village of Oddington,[5] outside Oxford, on 6 March 1956, the son of two schoolteachers and one of six children; he attended Millfield School where his mother was a mathematics teacher and his father an economics teacher. The headmaster, Jack Meyer, a former Somerset County Cricket Club Captain, had offered his parents employment at the school so that they could afford the fees.[6] Meyer was an unconventional headmaster who wanted to encourage cricket talent. On entering Meyer's office for the interview for admission, Roebuck found an orange flying through the air towards him; he caught it, and in his book It Never Rains speculated whether he would have got into Millfield if he had dropped it. He later studied law at Emmanuel College at the University of Cambridge, graduating with first-class honours in 1977.[5] However he never practised law, finding it too confining.[5]

Roebuck was a right-handed batsman, often used as an opener, and occasionally bowled right-arm offspin. He played for Somerset's second eleven at the age of 13 and regular first-class cricket from 1974 until his retirement in 1991. He later played Minor Counties cricket for Devon.

In 335 first-class matches he scored 17,558 runs at an average of 37.27, making 33 centuries with a highest score of 221*, and took 72 wickets at 49.16. In 298 one-day matches, he scored 7244 runs at 29.81 while taking 51 wickets at 25.09.[7]

On the county circuit, Roebuck's nickname was Rupert. This arose when the Essex captain, Keith Fletcher, once addressed him as Rupert, in the mistaken belief that it was actually his name.[8]

In 1988 Roebuck was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.[9]

Roebuck spent his last years residing in Straw Hat Farm, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, as well as Bondi, Sydney, where he owned two houses.[18][19] He grew increasingly estranged from England,[12][20] but kept in regular touch with his mother and siblings.[5] He became an Australian citizen.[21] His colleague Malcolm Knox said of Roebuck that "nothing could rile him more, after he became an Australian citizen, than to be described as an Englishman of any kind, even a former one."[22]

In 2005 Roebuck's father wrote that Peter is an "unconventional loner with an independent outlook on life, an irreverent sense of humour and sometimes a withering tongue."[16]

Very much an introvert, he was a solitary and complex person[11] who preferred to read a book while eating alone rather than spend time in the company of his colleagues.[23]

Roebuck arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, on 7 November 2011 to report on a Test match between South Africa and Australia for The Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).[25] He was staying at the Southern Sun Hotel in Newlands, Cape Town, on 12 November, when the South African Police Service entered the hotel, claiming to desire to speak to him about an alleged sexual assault on a 26-year-old Zimbabwean man.[26]

After requesting that he be allowed to go to his room to change his clothes, Roebuck called the ABC's Jim Maxwell in his hotel room and asked him to find him a lawyer and to then come to his hotel room.[27]

At 9.15 pm, Roebuck died after jumping from the sixth floor of the Southern Sun Hotel.[28] He landed on the awning outside the entrance to the hotel,[29] causing what was described by Australian cricket writer Peter Lalor, who later saw Roebuck's body at the mortuary, as "serious head trauma".[30] Roebuck's body was taken to the Salt River State mortuary in the early hours of the next morning.[30] A statement issued by South African police stated that Roebuck had committed suicide[10] and that an inquest into the matter would be held.[31]

Students residing at Roebuck's farm in Natal, where he lived for six months of every year, stated that no corporal punishment was ever meted out at the residence.[32] A law graduate who speaks for the housemates at Straw Hat Farm said of the sexual assault allegation: "This is not the Peter we knew."[32]

In January 2012 Australian journalist Adam Shand published extensive research on Roebuck's dealings with the young men who lived with him in South Africa.[33]

Roebuck was Ed Cowan's mentor and former teacher at Cranbrook School. Cowan's maiden Test century came in the First Test between Australia and South Africa at the Gabba, Brisbane, on 12 November 2012, a year to the day after Roebuck's death. Cowan dedicated the century to Roebuck's memory.[34]

In mid-2014 a former colleague of Roebuck's at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Tim Lane, and writer Elliot Cartledge were commissioned to research his life story and investigate the circumstances of his death. Associates of Roebuck such as Vic Marks, Steve Waugh, Ian Chappell, Jonathan Agnew and Matthew Engel are quoted. The Zimbabwean man at the centre of the controversy that led to Roebuck's death, Itai Gondo, provided testimony. The book, Chasing Shadows – The Life and Death of Peter Roebuck, was released in the UK, Australia and New Zealand in late 2015.[4]

• Slices of Cricket Unwin, (1982) ISBN 0-04-796088-4, ISBN 978-0-04-796088-8
• It Never Rains: A Cricketer's Lot, Unwin, (1984) ISBN 0-04-796096-5; ISBN 978-0-04-796096-3;
• It Sort of Clicks (with Ian Botham), (1986) ISBN 0-947072-32-2, ISBN 978-0-947072-32-2
• Great Innings, Blitz (1990) ISBN 1-85605-121-8, ISBN 978-1-85605-121-7
• Tangled Up in White: Peter Roebuck On Cricket, Hodder & Stoughton, (1992) ISBN 0-340-56618-3, ISBN 978-0-340-56618-3
• From Sammy to Jimmy: History of Somerset County Cricket Club, Partridge Press (1991) ISBN 1-85225-085-2, ISBN 978-1-85225-085-0
• Sometimes I Forgot to Laugh (autobiography), Allen & Unwin (2004) ISBN 1-74114-389-6
• It Takes All Sorts: Celebrating Cricket's Colourful Characters, Allen & Unwin, (2005) ISBN 1-74114-542-2
• In It To Win It: The Australian Cricket Supremacy, Allen & Unwin, (2006) ISBN 1-74114-543-0