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Articles Written by Peter Roebuck

Peter Roebuck cricket journalist

Peter wrote about cricket like no other. Most say that his newspaper articles were the pinnacle of his writing, as he would just wing them off in his peerless prose, dissecting his subjects with his unique style.

Below is a collection of his articles written for the Melbourne newspaper The Age; the Sydney Morning Herald; and ESPN Cricinfo. Following this link you can find all the articles Peter Roebuck wrote for espncricinfo.com.

Usman Khawaja

India’s Down Under Mission

3 September 2011. The Indians might find themselves facing a bunch of capable young guns. Doubtless Indian cricketers are keeping a close eye on events in Galle. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his exhausted men arrive in Australia in December seeking their country’s first series victory down under. A month or so ago the prospects seemed […]

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VVS Laxman

The Genius and the Doubter

7 October 2010. VVS Laxman is an artist whose strength lies not in his artistry but in his competitive spirit, a batsman who needs adversity to unleash the giant within. VVS Laxman has joined Brian Lara on the short list of modern batsmen whose mastery extends to fourth-innings chases and whose masterpieces include memorable innings […]

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Only cricketers can save cricket

Only Cricketers Can Save Cricket

8 September 2010. Time is up for making excuses and passing the buck; anti-corruption bodies and administrators can do no good if players keep giving in to temptations. Cricket has been leading a double life. At the same time it is a valiant and beautiful game played with intent by a collection of superb players, […]

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Cheteshwar Pujara

India Will Need to Focus on Rebuilding

27 August 2011. India needs to examine the evidence provided by the heavy defeats in England and respond accordingly. Pretending it was a bad patch or a cursed tour will merely prolong the agony. Moreover, the scale of the loss does not allow any room for complacency. It is over. India’s steady rise in the […]

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Adam Gilchrist

The Word is Respect

The nebulous idea of the spirit of cricket is hard to sustain in our fractious times. Better to think in terms of respect for opponents, perhaps. By sponsoring the Test series between Pakistan and Australia played in England, the Marylebone Cricket Club did the game a service. Cricket faces no greater task than the protection […]

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Allan Border, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh

Now it is India’s Turn to Review Structures

Argus and company recommended an overhaul of the selection and coaching structures in Australia. No sooner had Australia comprehensively lost the 2010-11 Ashes series than the Board announced not one but two enquiries into the causes of the defeat. Don Argus, the recently retired BHP chief, was asked to examine cricket operations. Meanwhile, two governance […]

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India vs England at Edgbaston

India Has Looked Weary and Stale

14 August 2011. Over the last few days, two teams have summoned the focus demanded in the unforgiving Test arena. England has been superb, an executioner in white clothes. Zimbabwe, too, played with unsuspected maturity. Contrastingly, India and Bangladesh have been abject. Test cricket exposes weaknesses and reveals strengths. That is its beauty and primary […]

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Anderson bowls in the Ashes 2009

England is the Most Efficient Side

5 August 2011. Let us praise England’s cricketers! Admittedly the Indians have played like duffers but focussing on their failings denies the victors their dues. Moreover even India at its best, might not have been good enough. England has played vibrant and fighting cricket. The team has a reliable top order, a powerful middle, a […]

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Sticky Wicket by Malcolm Speed

Speed Retells the Appalling Tale of Misrule

21 May 2011. If the style in Sticky Wicket is as dry as a paper clip, the content is colourful. Speed describes the rumour ridden enquiry into Bob Woolmer‘s death at the 2003 Cricket World Cup (CWC), an investigation hijacked by a vainglorious detective and a silly coroner. He talks about the disastrous 2007 CWC, […]

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Brian Lara Lord's Bicentenary

An El Classico Which Fulfilled Expectations

30 April 2011. With all due respect to the entertaining tussles between IPL sides, the most riveting confrontation of the week occurred not on an Indian cricket ground but on a Spanish football field. How closely soccer is followed in India these days is unclear but a rupee to a paisa says it is growing […]

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Mahela Jayawardene

The Slow Rise and the Swift Fall

9 September 2011. It might years before Sri Lanka and India regain their full powers. India and Sri Lanka have hardly won a match since the World Cup final. Certainly Mahendra Dhoni’s fellows did subdue the West Indians but they are weak and fractured and anyhow several of the top players were missing. Otherwise it […]

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Lala Amarnath a Lord's 1936

Wrong Way to Make a Point

17th September 2011. If the modern players are exhausted then it is their own fault. India’s boycott of the ICC awards ceremony more closely resembled a student protest than the conduct of mature sportsmen enriched by the game and obliged to promote its interests. It was a trivial action that contrasted sharply with the glories […]

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Virender Sehwag

Indian Batting Will be Tested

23 July 2011. Indian cricket has come a long way. Certainly the surge of the last few summers has caused a few headaches but cricket is lucky to have India as its driving force. Amongst major playing nations, only Sri Lanka has improved half as much. However, India has reason to worry about its prospects. […]

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Ajantha Mendis bowling

The Enduring Charm of Test Cricket

11 August 2010. The five-day game is still compelling, but pitches need to be got right if the format is to thrive. Ajantha Mendis’ plucky stand in Colombo proved a superb advertisement for the longer version of the game. Whereas 50-over cricket is one-dimensional, Test matches can swing back and forth in the most improbable […]

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Ishant Sharma

How the Mighty Have Fallen

28 July 2010. Australia and India face similar problems, with ageing stalwarts and unproven youngsters. The upcoming series between the two doesn’t seem as good a prospect as those in recent times. By no means can the Indians or Australians be confident about their Test prospects over the next few months. In that period Australia […]

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Muttiah Muralitharan

In a Freakish League of His Own

14 July 2010. Murali hasn’t been combative like Warne or full of rage like Kumble; more unconventional than them, and tenacious to the core, he has surpassed them both. Muttiah Muralitharan has made a mesmeric contribution to the game. It was no small thing for a boy from Kandy to attract the attention of selectors […]

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Andrew Strauss

All Hail England’s New Spirit

30 June 2010. Strauss’s boys are full of a new attitude, defined by resilience, optimism and unbreakability. Hope and hurt fell upon English sportsmen during a tumultuous week. Hurt came from another heavy defeat at the hands of the Germans, so often a nemesis on the games field if not upon the battlefield. As usual […]

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Henry Olonga

The Case for Reconsidering the Zimbabwe Boycott

16th June 2010. Things may not be as rosy as observers may have cause to hope for, but respect for those seeking to rebuild the country and its cricket must surpass anger about those hell-bent on its destruction. Zimbabwe and its cricket community have been getting soft treatment lately, as both undergo changes that optimists […]

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Praveen Kumar Bowling

Dhoni needs to rethink his approach to the game

16 July 2011. Mahendra Singh Dhoni needs to rethink his approach to the game. As captain he is responsible for the conduct and strategies pursued by his team. Cricket’s laws are clear on that point. In other games captains are merely required to maintain morale. Cricketers spend most of their time on the field so […]

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Zimbabwean cricket team

Cricket in the World

2 June 2010. Our sport must embrace the environment it belongs to, engage with it, and move with the times. Cricket’s primary task over the last 30 or so years has been to move beyond its historic and geographic confines and to take its place in a broader, more difficult, less governable and much richer […]

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Paul Collingwood

A new beginning for England?

19 May 2010. Collingwood’s side were fearless and kept pressing till victory was theirs. Here’s hoping it marks a renaissance in the country’s cricket. England deserved their triumph in the Caribbean. The two best teams met in the final and the most resourceful side prevailed. Paul Collingwood’s outfit gathered momentum as the tournament went along […]

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Tim Southee bowling

Attack, But Skilfully

5 May 2010. At no point in the history of one-day cricket has as much emphasis been put on taking wickets as there is now – though not too many are getting it quite right. In a recent Twenty20 match against Australia played in the land of the long white cloud, Tim Southee produced one […]

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