Peter Roebuck - Just whose side were you on?

RIP (6/3/56 - 12/11/11)

It is only fair to say from the outset that my personal feelings toward Peter Roebuck when he was alive were tinged with a sense of mild mistrust and more than a little anger. Like a reformed smoker banging on about the perils of the dreaded weed, he would constantly pick holes in the very fabric and more often the soul of English cricket in way that stuck in my craw. Where was his loyalty? Where was his perspective? Was he really still so bitter after the Richards/Botham fallout?

But now (and how often is it the case, when it is too late?) in the aftermath of his suicide I feel a genuine sense of loss. No more will I open the sports section of the Sydney Morning Herald, seek out his column and start boiling up with annoyance, all the while admiring the unique insight, scathing attack and morally robust position that he would take on any subject. No more will I assume a polar opinion to his, only to find myself being drawn relentlessly to recognise the validity of his argument. No more will I wonder what he's really like and most probably the only tiny relief is that no more will I wonder (albeit only in moments of my own introspection) whether or not he would be the next cricketer/journalist to take his own life.

Peter Roebuck's cricket career has been thoroughly documented elsewhere but the bottom line is that Roebuck scored more than 17,000 first class runs, was instrumental in the departure of West Indians Viv Richards and Joel Garner, as well as England captain Ian Botham, from Somerset during his tempestuous reign as captain in the late 1980s and captained England to an ignominious one day defeat against Netherlands which cut-off any possible elevation to the main England skippers role. After retiring from the game in 1991, Roebuck moved to Australia and forged a career as a stylish and strongly opinionated cricket writer for the Sydney Morning Herald, Melbourne's the Age and latterly the Cricinfo website.

After his move to Australia, Roebuck seemed to revel in the prolonged spell his country of birth had in the cricketing doldrums. Every new collapse, every new captaincy crisis was greeted with a metaphorical rub of the hands. His articles were peppered with new found Strine colloquialisms that reeked of TITF (see it is catching!) and the sense of a grudge well and truly (Sydney) harbored. His spells in the ABC commentary box highlighted his quirks and foibles but also allowed his depth of intellect, sense of humour and respect for cricket to shine through.

His call for the sacking of Ricky Ponting as Australian captain in 2008 was a bold (but thoroughly justified) viewpoint and highlighted his firm belief that nobody is bigger than the game and that strong standards should be kept. The vitriol heaped on him afterwards spoke volumes more about Aussie insecurity than Roebuck's judgement.

As for the circumstance of his passing and the rumours that had occasionally dogged him, that is for others to dwell on. On the few occasions I was fortunate enough to see him speak the sense that he was possibly troubled was difficult to shake off, however sparkling his monologue or robust his particular position on a pressing issue of the day.

That being said and acknowledging Peter Roebuck was by no means everybody's cup of tea it must not be denied that he enriched the game we love with his dogged ability, his rapier sharp pen, his passion for and unique take on the game we love.

He shall be genuinely missed.


Andy Franks - Sydney 14th November 2011