Articles that Peter Roebuck wrote for The Hindu between September 2009 and January 2005.
21 October 2011. Victory will go to the boldest and the best-organised outfit. India has every right to be delighted by its performances in the One-Day Internationals. By no means can the trouncing of England be taken lightly. In a trice M.S. Dhoni’s side has stopped its run of defeats, doused English ardour and restored […]
8 October 2011. Has India recognised the need to change? Australia is on track to regain a high place in the cricketing rankings. Within three years it will be challenging England for the top spot. And the reason is simple. Australian cricket has taken a hard look at itself and realised it had become complacent. […]
30 September 2011. Anyone doubting that Twenty20 has changed the game substantially needs to take a closer look at the Champions League. Actually it’s not the game that has changed so much as the education of the young cricketer. Jonny Bairstow bowled by Mitchell Starc. Australia beat England by 120 runs in 2nd Ashes (Day|Night) […]
24 September 2011. The issue is not whether the systems are 100 per cent reliable but whether better verdicts are reached. India’s reluctance to accept the Decision Review System is regrettable. The BCCI wants to wait till the technology has been rendered foolproof. But humanity cannot wait upon perfection or else we’d all still be […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
4th April 1992. On March 22, 1992, South Africa failed to book its berth in its maiden World Cup. The team was done in by the application of finicky rules, writes Peter Roebuck. In one of the most shambolic finishes of this illustrious game, South Africa was robbed of an opportunity to reach a World […]
9th July 2011. Sangakkara is made of sterner stuff Kumar Sangakkara has blown the bugle on cricket’s version of the Arab uprising. Nor can he be allowed to stand alone. It’s time for all good men to demand the highest standards from the game’s governors. And that requires due diligence, independent Board members, abolishing conflict […]
24 June 2011. Rahul Dravid has struck a mighty blow for the old-timers. His hundred in the Caribbean served two purposes, putting his team in a powerful position and reminding all and sundry that batsmen are better judged from their performances than from their birth certificates. Apparently his place had been in jeopardy. All sorts […]
10 June 2011. Kieron Pollard is at once a struggling cricketer and hot property. It is a curious dichotomy born of T20. Suddenly money can be made not from the most demanding part of the game but from an amusing sideshow. In golfing terms the imposing West Indian is making his living not from the […]
15 May 2011. India and Australia have been especially lucky in their senior players. Never has the importance of senior players been more apparent. Teams can be undermined as much by jealousy and laziness as by incompetence. Captains are responsible for the performance of cricket teams but without proper backing from influential players, they walk […]
2002. In his most candid interview ever, ‘Ice Man’ Steve Waugh talks to Peter Roebuck about everything from backyard cricket and his parents to car-jacking. Steve, I first saw you play in Sydney for CHS… in ’83, I reckon. What type of person were you? Actually, you’d met me before that. You coached me during […]
23 April 2011. IPL’s fourth edition has been going along at a rollicking pace. Packed grounds, excited spectators, new teams and vibrant contests have been its hallmarks. The sight of Sachin Tendulkar at the top of the scoring list, too, confirms that truly great cricketers can meet all challenges. Suffice it to say that IPL […]