Peter Roebuck
Encyclopedia
Peter Michael Roebuck was an English
cricketer
who achieved later renown as an Australian newspaper columnist and radio commentator. A consistent county performer with over 25,000 runs, and "one of the better English openers of the 1980s", Roebuck captained the English county side Somerset
between 1986 and 1988. During 1989, Roebuck also captained an England XI
one-day cricket team in two matches. His post-playing career as an erudite writer earned him great acclaim as a journalist with the Sunday Times and later as an author. Roebuck committed suicide in Cape Town
, South Africa
, on 12 November 2011 after being asked by police to answer questions about an allegation of sexual assault.
, 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 CCC Captain, had offered his parents employment at the school so that they could afford the fees. 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 in to 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. However he never practised law, finding it too confining.
.
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.
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.
In 1988 Roebuck was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
.
and Joel Garner
, whose runs and wickets had brought the county much success in the previous eight years.
Roebuck and his supporters argued that both Richards and Garner were now ageing, that individually and collectively their contributions had declined dramatically and that younger overseas and home-grown players should be recruited to replace them. They cited the recent performance of the team in the County Championship
— namely, bottom in 1985 and next-bottom in 1986 — and their failure in one-day competitions since winning the NatWest Bank Trophy in 1983.
It should also be understood that a change in the TCCB (Test and County Cricket Board) regulations meant that only one overseas player would be allowed in each county team rather than two as previously - meaning that Somerset would not be able to field both Richards and Garner.
Opposition to the decision not to re-employ Richards and Garner came loudest from Somerset's English-born star, the all-rounder Ian Botham
, who refused a new contract for himself and joined Worcestershire
. In the event, under Roebuck's captaincy and with Martin Crowe
of New Zealand and Steve Waugh
of Australia as overseas players, Somerset improved a little in 1987, though they remained among the weaker counties for a further six seasons. After many years of bitterness and the eventual removal of Roebuck from the club, Richards was honoured with the naming of a set of entrance gates and a stand after him at the County Ground, Taunton.
Roebuck wrote columns for The Sydney Morning Herald
, The Age
(Melbourne) and ESPNcricinfo, as well as commentating for the ABC
radio cricket coverage in Australia. He was known for wearing his trademark straw sunhat at all times, even in the commentary box.
He felt there was too much nationalism in cricket writing and it should be avoided when analysing the game. He was one of the few global voices in the game without allegiance to any nation, team or player.
He was one of the last journalists in cricket to acquire a laptop and mobile phone and found them quite useful.
Roebuck was often critical of the Australian cricket team and, in particular, the Australian captain Ricky Ponting
. Following Australia's narrow victory in the second Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground
in 2007–08, Roebuck accused the Australians of "bad sportsmanship and triumphalism", describing the Australian team as a "pack of wild dogs" and claiming that Ponting has "shown not the slightest interest in the well-being of the game, not the slightest sign of diplomatic skills, not a single mark of respect for his accomplished and widely admired opponents."
Roebuck was described as an astute judge of cricketers, contrarian, master wordsmith and his writing was described as lean, erudite, fluent, perceptive, vibrant.
, South Africa
, as well as Bondi
, Sydney
, Australia
, where he owned two houses. He grew estranged from England, but kept in regular touch with his mother and siblings. He became an Australian citizen. 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."
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."
He was a solitary and complex man who preferred to read a book while eating alone rather than spend time in the company of his colleagues.
if they failed to obey his "house rules". He caned
all three men on their (clothed) buttocks
at different times for misbehaviour and in 2001 was given a suspended jail
sentence after pleading guilty to three charges of common assault. He told the court, "Obviously I misjudged the mood and that was my mistake and my responsibility and I accept that." Henk Lindeque, one of Roebuck’s victims, said, "The problem was not so much that he caned us but wanted to examine the marks. That’s when I decided to get out of his house." Lindeque stated that he held no ill will toward Roebuck and was saddened to hear of his death.
for The Sydney Morning Herald
and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
(ABC). He was staying at the Southern Sun Hotel
in Newlands, Cape Town
, on 12 November, when South African Police
entered the hotel, claiming to desire to speak to him about an alleged sexual assault on a 26-year-old Zimbabwean man. The man had alleged that Roebuck had "groomed" him through Facebook
, asking him to "bring [a] stick in case I need to beat you" once they had arranged to meet. At their claimed meeting Roebuck allegedly pinned the man to a hotel bed and sexually assaulted him, leaving him feeling suicidal.
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 Roebuck's hotel room.
At 9.15pm, Roebuck died after falling from the sixth floor of the Southern Sun Hotel. He landed on the awning outside the entrance to the hotel, causing what was described by Australian cricket writer, Peter Lalor, who later saw Roebuck's body at the mortuary, as "serious head trauma". Roebuck's body was taken to the Salt River State mortuary in the early hours of the next morning. A statement issued by South African police stated that Roebuck had committed suicide
and that an inquest
into the matter would be held.
Students residing at Roebuck's farm in Natal, where he lived for six months of every year, stated that no corporal punishment was meted out at the residence. 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."
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
cricketer
Cricketer
A cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
who achieved later renown as an Australian newspaper columnist and radio commentator. A consistent county performer with over 25,000 runs, and "one of the better English openers of the 1980s", Roebuck captained the English county side Somerset
Somerset County Cricket Club
Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...
between 1986 and 1988. During 1989, Roebuck also captained an England XI
English cricket team
The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...
one-day cricket team in two matches. His post-playing career as an erudite writer earned him great acclaim as a journalist with the Sunday Times and later as an author. Roebuck committed suicide in Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, on 12 November 2011 after being asked by police to answer questions about an allegation of sexual assault.
Early life
Roebuck was born in the village of OddingtonOddington, Oxfordshire
Oddington is a village and civil parish about south of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. The village is close to the River Ray on the northern edge of Otmoor.-History:...
, 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
Jack Meyer (educator and cricketer)
Rollo John Oliver Meyer , known generally as 'Jack', and at Millfield mainly as 'Boss', was an English educationalist who founded Millfield School and Millfield Preparatory School in Somerset; he was also an all-round sportsman who played cricket at first-class level in both England and in India...
, a former Somerset CCC Captain, had offered his parents employment at the school so that they could afford the fees. 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 in to Millfield if he had dropped it. He later studied law at Emmanuel College
Emmanuel College, Cambridge
Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay on the site of a Dominican friary...
at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, graduating with first class honours in 1977. However he never practised law, finding it too confining.
Cricket career
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 DevonDevon County Cricket Club
Devon County Cricket Club is one of the county clubs which make up the Minor Counties in the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Devon and playing in the Minor Counties Championship and the MCCA Knockout Trophy....
.
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.
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.
In 1988 Roebuck was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
The Wisden Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season"...
.
1986 controversy
Roebuck became a controversial figure in 1986 when, at the end of his first season as captain of Somerset, he was instrumental in the county's decision not to renew the contracts of its two overseas players, Viv RichardsViv Richards
Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards, KNH, OBE is a former West Indian cricketer. Better known by his second name, Vivian or, more popularly, simply as Viv or King Viv Richards was voted one of the five Cricketers of the Century in 2000, by a 100-member panel of experts, along with Sir Donald...
and Joel Garner
Joel Garner
Joel Garner , also known as "Big Joel" or "Big Bird", is a former West Indian cricketer, and a member of the highly regarded late 1970s and early '80s West Indies cricket teams....
, whose runs and wickets had brought the county much success in the previous eight years.
Roebuck and his supporters argued that both Richards and Garner were now ageing, that individually and collectively their contributions had declined dramatically and that younger overseas and home-grown players should be recruited to replace them. They cited the recent performance of the team in the County Championship
County Championship
The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...
— namely, bottom in 1985 and next-bottom in 1986 — and their failure in one-day competitions since winning the NatWest Bank Trophy in 1983.
It should also be understood that a change in the TCCB (Test and County Cricket Board) regulations meant that only one overseas player would be allowed in each county team rather than two as previously - meaning that Somerset would not be able to field both Richards and Garner.
Opposition to the decision not to re-employ Richards and Garner came loudest from Somerset's English-born star, the all-rounder Ian Botham
Ian Botham
Sir Ian Terence Botham OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy"...
, who refused a new contract for himself and joined Worcestershire
Worcestershire County Cricket Club
Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
. In the event, under Roebuck's captaincy and with Martin Crowe
Martin Crowe
Martin David Crowe is a former New Zealand cricketer. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1985, and was credited as one of the "best young batsmen in the world". Crowe represented New Zealand from the early 1980s until his retirement in 1996 as a right-handed batsman...
of New Zealand and Steve Waugh
Steve Waugh
Stephen Rodger "Steve" Waugh, AO is a former Australian cricketer and fraternal twin of cricketer Mark Waugh. A right-handed batsman, he was also a successful medium-pace bowler...
of Australia as overseas players, Somerset improved a little in 1987, though they remained among the weaker counties for a further six seasons. After many years of bitterness and the eventual removal of Roebuck from the club, Richards was honoured with the naming of a set of entrance gates and a stand after him at the County Ground, Taunton.
Commentator and journalist
His journal of the 1983 season, It Never Rains, established him as one of cricket's finest journalists.Roebuck wrote columns for The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
, The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
(Melbourne) and ESPNcricinfo, as well as commentating for the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
radio cricket coverage in Australia. He was known for wearing his trademark straw sunhat at all times, even in the commentary box.
He felt there was too much nationalism in cricket writing and it should be avoided when analysing the game. He was one of the few global voices in the game without allegiance to any nation, team or player.
He was one of the last journalists in cricket to acquire a laptop and mobile phone and found them quite useful.
Roebuck was often critical of the Australian cricket team and, in particular, the Australian captain Ricky Ponting
Ricky Ponting
Ricky Thomas Ponting , nicknamed Punter, is an Australian cricketer, a former captain of the Australian cricket team between 2004 and 2011 in Test cricket and 2002 and 2011 in One Day International cricket. He is a specialist right-handed batsman, slips and close catching fielder, as well as a very...
. Following Australia's narrow victory in the second Test against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney Cricket Ground
The Sydney Cricket Ground is a sports stadium in Sydney in Australia. It is used for Australian football, Test cricket, One Day International cricket, some rugby league and rugby union matches and is the home ground for the New South Wales Blues cricket team and the Sydney Swans of the Australian...
in 2007–08, Roebuck accused the Australians of "bad sportsmanship and triumphalism", describing the Australian team as a "pack of wild dogs" and claiming that Ponting has "shown not the slightest interest in the well-being of the game, not the slightest sign of diplomatic skills, not a single mark of respect for his accomplished and widely admired opponents."
Roebuck was described as an astute judge of cricketers, contrarian, master wordsmith and his writing was described as lean, erudite, fluent, perceptive, vibrant.
Philanthropy
In 2006, Roebuck established the Learning for a Better World (LBW) Trust to help students from cricket-playing developing countries to complete tertiary education. He resigned from the Trust in 2008. In addition to supporting the LBW Trust, Roebuck spent A$100,000 of his own money to help put African youths through high school and university. Psychology Maziwisa, a Zimbabwean lawyer Roebuck had mentored and whose education he had funded, wrote a tribute in which he stated that Roebuck had over 35 Zimbabweans in his care at the time of his death, and he had spent approximately $500,000 of his own money to "realise African dreams".Personal life
Roebuck spent his last years residing in Straw Hat Farm, PietermaritzburgPietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838, and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its "purist" Zulu name is umGungundlovu, and this is the name used for the district municipality...
, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, as well as Bondi
Bondi, New South Wales
Bondi is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bondi is located seven kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council. The postcode is 2026.-Location:...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, where he owned two houses. He grew estranged from England, but kept in regular touch with his mother and siblings. He became an Australian citizen. 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."
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."
He was a solitary and complex man who preferred to read a book while eating alone rather than spend time in the company of his colleagues.
Assault conviction
In 1999, while working as a commentator in South Africa, Roebuck met three cricketers, all aged 19, and offered to coach them, inviting them to live at his home in England. He warned them beforehand that he would use corporal punishmentCorporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
if they failed to obey his "house rules". He caned
Caning
Caning is a form of corporal punishment consisting of a number of hits with a single cane usually made of rattan, generally applied to the offender's bare or clothed buttocks or hand . Application of a cane to the knuckles or the shoulders has been much less common...
all three men on their (clothed) buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
at different times for misbehaviour and in 2001 was given a suspended jail
Jail
A jail is a short-term detention facility in the United States and Canada.Jail may also refer to:In entertainment:*Jail , a 1966 Malayalam movie*Jail , a 2009 Bollywood movie...
sentence after pleading guilty to three charges of common assault. He told the court, "Obviously I misjudged the mood and that was my mistake and my responsibility and I accept that." Henk Lindeque, one of Roebuck’s victims, said, "The problem was not so much that he caned us but wanted to examine the marks. That’s when I decided to get out of his house." Lindeque stated that he held no ill will toward Roebuck and was saddened to hear of his death.
Death
Roebuck arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, on 7 November 2011 to report on a Test Match between South Africa and AustraliaAustralian cricket team in South Africa in 2011–12
-1st T20I:-2nd T20I:-1st ODI:-2nd ODI:-3rd ODI:-1st Test:South Africa won the toss and elected to field. At the end of the first day, Australia had made 214 for the loss of 8 wickets, with South African bowler Dale Steyn picking up 4 wickets for 31 runs...
for The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
(ABC). He was staying at the Southern Sun Hotel
Southern Sun Hotel Group
Southern Sun Hotel Group is South Africa's largest hotel chain and an operator of InterContinental Hotels - branded hotels in South Africa. It was founded in 1969 by South African Breweries and hotelier Sol Kerzner....
in Newlands, Cape Town
Newlands, Cape Town
Newlands is an upmarket suburb of Cape Town, South Africa.It is located at the foot of Table Mountain in the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, and is the wettest suburb in South Africa due to its high winter rainfall...
, on 12 November, when South African Police
South African Police
The South African Police was the country's police force until 1994. The SAP traced its origin to the Dutch Watch, a paramilitary organization formed by settlers in the Cape in 1655, initially to protect civilians against attack and later to maintain law and order...
entered the hotel, claiming to desire to speak to him about an alleged sexual assault on a 26-year-old Zimbabwean man. The man had alleged that Roebuck had "groomed" him through Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
, asking him to "bring [a] stick in case I need to beat you" once they had arranged to meet. At their claimed meeting Roebuck allegedly pinned the man to a hotel bed and sexually assaulted him, leaving him feeling suicidal.
After requesting that he be allowed to go to his room to change his clothes, Roebuck called the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
's Jim Maxwell
Jim Maxwell (commentator)
James "Jim" Maxwell is a sports commentator with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation best known for covering cricket.-Playing career:...
in his hotel room and asked him to find him a lawyer and to then come to Roebuck's hotel room.
At 9.15pm, Roebuck died after falling from the sixth floor of the Southern Sun Hotel. He landed on the awning outside the entrance to the hotel, causing what was described by Australian cricket writer, Peter Lalor, who later saw Roebuck's body at the mortuary, as "serious head trauma". Roebuck's body was taken to the Salt River State mortuary in the early hours of the next morning. A statement issued by South African police stated that Roebuck had committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
and that an inquest
Inquest
Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden and unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove"...
into the matter would be held.
Students residing at Roebuck's farm in Natal, where he lived for six months of every year, stated that no corporal punishment was meted out at the residence. 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."
Publications
- Slices of Cricket UnwinAllen & UnwinAllen & Unwin, formerly a major British publishing house, is now an independent book publisher and distributor based in Australia. The Australian directors have been the sole owners of the Allen & Unwin name since effecting a management buy out at the time the UK parent company, Unwin Hyman, was...
, (1982) ISBN 0047960884, ISBN 978-0047960888 - It Never Rains: A Cricketer's Lot, Unwin, (1984) ISBN 0047960965; ISBN 978-0047960963;
- It Sort of Clicks, (with Ian BothamIan BothamSir Ian Terence Botham OBE is a former England Test cricketer and Test team captain, and current cricket commentator. He was a genuine all-rounder with 14 centuries and 383 wickets in Test cricket, and remains well-known by his nickname "Beefy"...
) (1986) ISBN 0947072322, ISBN 978-0947072322 - Great Innings, Blitz (1990) ISBN 1856051218, ISBN 978-1856051217
- Tangled Up In White: Peter Roebuck On Cricket, Hodder & StoughtonHodder & StoughtonHodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
, (1992) ISBN 0340566183, ISBN 978-0340566183 - From Sammy to Jimmy: History of Somerset Country Cricket Club, Partridge Press (1991) ISBN 1852250852, ISBN 978-1852250850
- Sometimes I Forgot to Laugh, (autobiography) Allen & Unwin (2004) ISBN 1 74114 389 6
- It Takes All Sorts: Celebrating Cricket's Colourful Characters, Allen & UnwinAllen & UnwinAllen & Unwin, formerly a major British publishing house, is now an independent book publisher and distributor based in Australia. The Australian directors have been the sole owners of the Allen & Unwin name since effecting a management buy out at the time the UK parent company, Unwin Hyman, was...
, (2005) ISBN 1 74114 542 2 - In It To Win It: The Australian Cricket Supremacy Allen & Unwin, (2006) ISBN 1 74114 543 0