Peter Roebuck dies

[uvelocity]

What I find interesting is that he seems to be thought of much better down under than he was in the country of his birth. Maybe it's his commentary stints on ABC radio, which we're not privy to.

Up here he was largely regarded as a slightly fruity eccentric whose romantic attachments maybe ran to the recondite with a chip on his shoulder and a style of writing that occasionally veered towards the florid. I personally always felt disappointed in him because he could write and did know the sport but who seemed content to be a soapbox polemicist for his various hobby horses. His tiresome views on some of England's test side being (shock, horror) not native born proved that an argument don't necessarily get any stronger by virtue of being repeated.

I prefer not to speak ill of the dead.

 

[four_or_six]

What I find interesting is that he seems to be thought of much better down under than he was in the country of his birth. Maybe it's his commentary stints on ABC radio, which we're not privy to.

Up here he was largely regarded as a slightly fruity eccentric whose romantic attachments maybe ran to the recondite with a chip on his shoulder and a style of writing that occasionally veered towards the florid. I personally always felt disappointed in him because he could write and did know the sport but who seemed content to be a soapbox polemicist for his various hobby horses. His tiresome views on some of England's test side being (shock, horror) not native born proved that an argument don't necessarily get any stronger by virtue of being repeated.

His continual insistence that Bopara and Panesar were also not really English a couple of years ago prompted me to write a letter to complain to the newspaper the article was in, the only time I've ever done that that I can remember. He certainly had some very strong views, but I guess that made him stand out - you could always tell you were writing a Roebuck article without looking for the author's name.

 

[zaremba]

I wasn't aware of his particular views re Bopara and Panesar, but that sort of sentiment is particularly odd coming from someone who was a proud naturalised Australian. Strange chap.

Quite pleased at the balance of (mostly) thoughtful views that have been offered in this thread.

 

[Burgey]

His continual insistence that Bopara and Panesar were also not really English a couple of years ago prompted me to write a letter to complain to the newspaper the article was in, the only time I've ever done that that I can remember. He certainly had some very strong views, but I guess that made him stand out - you could always tell you were writing a Roebuck article without looking for the author's name.

That's also odd in that he thought it was great Khawaja was picked for Australia. He was always banging on about the joys of diversity in his stuff here. In fact, it got to the point where it was a bit embarassing because, seeing as he wrote for the Herald and not the Tele, he was preaching to the converted.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Yeah, used to have a slight dig at times about the lack of players in the Australian system with migrant backgrounds.

 

[morgieb]

I suppose that there's a bigger proportion of Australians with migrant backgrounds than Poms with migrant backgrounds (dunno for sure, but that's what I think), but yeah it does seem hypocritical for Roebuck to say stuff like that.

 

[silentstriker]

Wasn't Panesar born in England? Aside from his skin color, what was his rationale for that one?

 

[Furball]

Wasn't Panesar born in England? Aside from his skin color, what was his rationale for that one?

Skin colour basically.

 

[four_or_six]

That's also odd in that he thought it was great Khawaja was picked for Australia. He was always banging on about the joys of diversity in his stuff here. In fact, it got to the point where it was a bit embarassing because, seeing as he wrote for the Herald and not the Tele, he was preaching to the converted.

I don't recall that he was saying anything bad about them being in the team. What annoyed me so much was that players born and brought up in England were always being mentioned in articles about too many non-English players being in the team. I just didn't see that their presence in the team was at all relevant to the point he was trying to make.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Wasn't Panesar born in England? Aside from his skin color, what was his rationale for that one?

Sons of immigrants somehow weren't products of the country's system in which they played all their junior cricket in. "The Might of the Melting Pot"

At the last count about 150 foreign-born players had secured county contracts. And that does not count fellows like Monty Panesar, born and bred locally but into a Punjabi family. His ancestors come from Ludhiana, a teeming city not far from Chandigarh.

 

[benchmark00]

I see absolutely no problem with that article.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I see absolutely no problem with that article.

You don't think it's a bit disingenuous lumping together a player who's English born and raised with those who've come over in adulthood for professional reasons?

 

[Prince EWS]

I cringed whenever Roebuck mentioned ethnicity in a cricket article. He was a gifted writer but the topics he chose to write about and his hyperbolic, usually over-political, opinions really turned me off his articles. I did enjoy his commentary though.

 

[silentstriker]

Sons of immigrants somehow weren't products of the country's system in which they played all their junior cricket in. "The Might of the Melting Pot"

Yea that doesn't make any sense. The only difference between Monty and someone who is white and born in England is that he might have had a stronger cricket culture in the house...but many sports run in families or communities. I'm sure there are at least several other members of the england Test team who became cricketers partly or wholly because their families loved or played cricket. I don't see how it's similar to someone like KP at all.

Interestingly, what does he think of Nasser Hussain? Cause if you read his autobiography, he barely has any idea where he's from - in every way that matters, he's probably as English as they come.

 

[superkingdave]

I remember he wrote an article after the 2009 ashes decrying the fact that England won and pretty much dismissing it as an aberration, that Australia would soon be back on top and England going nowhere. I don't think it was anything in particular about the likes of Panesar he objected to, it was just something he could use as a crutch to assuage the massive chip he had on his shoulder about his country of birth.

 

[Burgey]

I remember he wrote an article after the 2009 ashes decrying the fact that England won and pretty much dismissing it as an aberration, that Australia would soon be back on top and England going nowhere. I don't think it was anything in particular about the likes of Panesar he objected to, it was just something he could use as a crutch to assuage the massive chip he had on his shoulder about his country of birth.

Good to see Roebuck at least woke up to the truth

 

[BoyBrumby]

I remember he wrote an article after the 2009 ashes decrying the fact that England won and pretty much dismissing it as an aberration, that Australia would soon be back on top and England going nowhere. I don't think it was anything in particular about the likes of Panesar he objected to, it was just something he could use as a crutch to assuage the massive chip he had on his shoulder about his country of birth.

Was it this one?

Basically makes the exact opposite point of the later article; he suggests England weren't producing any players and were propped up by overseas imports.

Unable to produce players of their own, the Poms seem intent on pinching everyone else's sportspeople.

However 18 months later and we're benefting from our unique melting pot.

 

[Top_Cat]

The whole debate about foreign vs local players is thinly-veiled sore losing rather than racism I reckon. When Daffy/Lewis/Malcolm/et al were in the Test side, the lack of English-born players was fingered as the reason (team cohesiveness, etc.). When the side was full of English-born players in the late 90's, critics went after the FC system, replete with so many foreign players, counties were chasing the $ rather than investing in local talent, etc. Now, with probably (?) more foreign players than ever, they're winning and the strengths of the melting pot are being hailed as the reason.

Truth is no-one gives a rat's how they're winning if they're winning. If England somehow lose a Test in the next 5 years, assume the 'no investment in local talent by FC teams' canard to resurface.

 

[Faisal1985]

May be its Karma...Britain colonized more than half the world and introduced their sport to them, now former colonies produce better players of the sport and England has to recruit them in order to keep the sport alive and actually matter in the sport they invented...

 

[superkingdave]

may be its karma...britain colonized more than half the world and introduced their sport to them, now former colonies produce better players of the sport and england has to recruit them in order to keep the sport alive and actually matter in the sport they invented...