Full Name

Peter Michael Roebuck

Born

March 06, 1956, Oxford

Died

November 12, 2011, Southern Sun Hotel, Claremont, Cape Town, (aged 55y 251d)

Batting Style

Right hand Bat

Bowling Style

Right arm Offbreak

Education

Millfield

RELATIONS

(brother)

Other

Coach, Journalist, Author

Millfield and Cambridge educated, Peter Roebuck was an intelligent, complex and often misunderstood person whose ability as an opening batsman was often overshadowed by other events.

He made his debut for Somerset 2nd XI in 1969 at 13 as a legspinner, joining the county properly on leaving school in 1974. His three years at Cambridge were productive in that he got a First in law as well as excelling at cricket, making 158 in the first of his three Varsity matches, although it took him until 1978 before he became established in the county side just at the time they were beginning on the most successful period in the previously trophyless history.

His batting style was solid rather than spectacular, and his contributions were often overlooked in a side which boasted Ian Botham and Viv Richards. He passed 1000 runs nine times in 12 seasons, and in the mid to late 1980s was one of the leading batsmen on the county circuit. In an era when England tried and discarded countless players, Roebuck was unlucky not to be given a chance.

He captained Somerset in the mid 1980s and in that time came the bitter dressing-room row which polarised the dressing-room and members and led to the sacking of Richards and Joel Garner and the subsequent departure of Botham.

He retired from first-class cricket at the end of the 1991 season but continued to turn out regularly for Devon who he captained for the best part of a decade before turning his back on Britain and moving to Australia and South Africa.

When still a player Roebuck turned to journalism and quickly established a reputation as an intelligent writer who pulled no punches. He was a columnist for The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, ESPNcricinfo, and published several books.

Perhaps his father best summed him up in Roebuck's 2005 autobiography Sometimes I Forgot To Laugh. "In orthodox spheres," his father wrote, "Peter might be regarded as odd, whereas he is merely obscure and oblique. He is an unconventional loner, with an independent outlook on life, an irreverent sense of humour and sometimes a withering tongue."

Roebuck died as he had lived, alone and in the midst of a cricket tour, at his hotel in Cape Town following South Africa's dramatic victory over Australia in the first Test in November 2011. He was 55.
Martin Williamson

Peter Roebuck Career Stats

Batting & Fielding

FormatMatInnsNORunsHSAve100s50sCtSt
FC3355528117558221*37.2733931620
List A29827835724412029.81538740

Bowling

FormatMatBallsRunsWktsBBIBBMAveEconSR4w5w10w
FC33576063540726/50-49.162.79105.6-10
List A29817851280514/114/1125.094.3035.0100

Debut/Last Matches of Peter Roebuck

FC Matches

Span
1974 - 1991

List A Matches

Span
1975 - 2002

Recent Matches of Peter Roebuck

MatchBatBowlDateGroundFormat
Devon vs Cheshire26* & 81/57 & 1/1714-Jul-2002SidmouthOTHER
Devon vs Wiltshire--3/3207-Jul-2002TorquayOTHEROD
Devon vs Bedfordshire30*1/2013-Sep-2001ExmouthList A
Devon vs WORCS1*2/3223-Jun-1999ExmouthList A
Devon vs Berkshire--2/2919-May-1999TorquayList A

Photos of Peter Roebuck

Peter Roebuck's hat sits on a desk in the press box at the Wanderers
Peter Roebuck
Peter Roebuck
Peter Roebuck on his way to 147
Peter Roebuck batting
Peter Roebuck