‘Maybe I should have toned it down’, says Peter Roebuck

 
David Wiseman Roar Guru

By , 21 Nov 2008 David Wiseman is a Roar Guru

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Australian captain Ricky Ponting, left, and bowler Brett Lee confer during the fourth day of the second cricket test match between India and Australia, in Mohali, India, Monday, Oct. 20, 2008. AP Photo/Gautam Singh

Everyone seems to have an opinion on Peter Roebuck. Via his columns in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, he has become the highest profile cricket writer in the Antipodes. He was recently elevated into the next stratosphere, though, after the Test match in Sydney, becoming a bona fide identity in his own right.

Now, regardless of whether or not they agree with him, people including the players want to read what he has to say.

As a columnist, it doesn’t get better than that.

“I don’t enjoy the notoriety or fame, nor am I comfortable with it. Journalists are simply observers of life,” he tells The Roar.

His style, which blends some interesting metaphors, colourful language and unique jargon, isn’t for everyone. But if you want someone who is going to call it as he sees it while having the game’s best interests at heart, Roebuck is your guy.

He is somewhat of a paradox.

He is English in his speech and mannerisms, yet this former captain of Somerset and England A has proudly embraced Australia and calls himself an Australian. No one seems fazed by his genteel work on the wireless, yet nothing can polarize like one of his missives.

He is prominent via his writing and radio commentary, yet actively shuns the limelight.

Following the controversial SCG Test match against India, Roebuck wrote a piece which had a headline of Arrogant Ponting Must Be Fired, which didn’t just add fuel on the fire as much as turn it into an inferno.

As he became part of the story, his role changed from observer to player.

The recently released books of Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist, which discuss the incident, both make reference to him and his article.

“I waited the day until the day after the match to write the piece. I wanted to express the empty feeling I had on leaving the ground. I wanted the piece to make an impact otherwise all the bitterness, resentment and anger wouldn’t go away. With the Indians threatening to call the tour off, it had to be confronted,” Roebuck says.

The language used in the article was extremely volatile, but Roebuck has no regrets about the piece but for two slight changes he made once he had finished it and some of the language, which was a bit over the top.

“I maybe should have toned it down, but just by 15 percent.”

The second the clock turned over to midnight and the paper hit the virtual street, the reaction was both instantaneous and seismic.

“By 12.05am, the phone was already ringing off the hook. The next morning there were television cameras camped outside my front door and every station in the country wanted me to do an interview with them. I turned them all down as it is not my task to seek celebrity or popularity, it is my aim to tell people what I think.”

Typically, he doesn’t give interviews, preferring that his writing does the talking for him.

Roebuck’s controversial piece was aimed to be the first in a series of three.

“The next day I wrote a piece regarding the Indians because by no means were they completely innocent and on the weekend wrote a constructive piece making suggestions and proposals on how to move forward from it all. Australia and India are two of the great cricket nations and if they can’t get along, we are going to have problems.”

Speak to most people though and the only article of the three they remember is the first one.

As for claims that he is biased against the Australians, Roebuck asserts nothing could be further from the truth.

“I care about each and every nation playing cricket. I am an internationalist and try to bring an international voice to the game.”

Cricket allows Roebuck the chance to have a life in many different countries, which is something he appreciates.

“Writing about cricket grants me the privileged position of conveying the plurality of the world and to write about how the game provides mutual understanding. When you consider the counties which play it and their histories vis a vis each other, it is surprising that there aren’t more problems than there are when you consider how much conflict has occurred between the various countries.”

Fairfax ran an online poll following Roebuck’s article. Typically, if the issue is one with a lot of feeling attached, the polls attract around 5000 votes. But with emotions running high, the poll asking readers if they agreed with Roebuck attracted a staggering 86,861 votes, with 60 percent agreeing with him.

Of course, there were a number who disagreed with him and told him so.

“I received hate mail and things such as that but I am used to that. I never felt threatened or in any danger though.”

As for the feedback, Roebuck doesn’t seek it from the subjects he is writing about.

“I follow the Bill O’Reilly school of thought which is not to cross paths with players, umpires of officials. It’s not my job to be popular with them and I write to the game and not to them. I’m interested though to hear what they may say five years after they’ve retired. I heard recently that Steve Waugh said I am his favorite cricket writer and that was nice.”

For Roebuck, writing is all about documenting performance and the human journey.

“Whether or not Australia is winning or losing doesn’t bother me – ultimately I don’t care about the result or who wins.”

While many people found the Australian period of domination boring, Roebuck enjoyed it.

“I don’t find excellence boring. It was fascinating to watch players such as Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath bowl and see their high level of craftsmanship. It was compelling to watch.”

It’s not just the players who are the custodians of the games and this is something that you can detect from Roebuck’s writing.

Love him or hate him, you have to concede that things would be a whole lot less interesting without him.

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