by Mayukh Ghosh
Somerset v Essex
Taunton
September 1975
Essex pressing for the win. Viv Richards and Brian Close both back in the pavilion. Somerset 5 down with a lead of 166.
A 19-year old bespectacled ex-Cambridge University student, with his competitive nature and technique, trying his best to prevent Essex from wrapping up the innings rather quickly.
Keith Fletcher, the Essex captain, fielding at silly-point to Ray East, summons everyone to ' get Rupert out and we'll be through 'em '.
Everyone else looks slightly perplexed. Stuart Turner asks, "Who the hell is Rupert?"
"Rupert Pocock", replies the confident skipper.
That nickname stayed with the batsman.
In the county circuit he was Peter Roebuck to few and Rupert Pocock to many more.
His benefit brochure in 1990 was titled 'Rupert's Year'.
Scyld Berry once told him, "You're like Don Quixote.....chasing windmills"
Roebuck couldn't hold his emotions for a moment but then quickly recovered to say, " My dad said that to me once when I was young."
Born English, he enjoyed his days in Greece, became an Australian citizen, bought a house in South Africa, and towards the end of his life, thought of moving to India.
On November 11, 2011, in his final column, he wrote, "Mind you, a lot can happen in a week. It just did."
He was right. A lot did happen very quickly- he died the very next day.
David Frith sums it up perfectly: " Most other people in cricket you can say " What a great bloke. Wish he was still here", or "What a bastard". With Roebuck, it's neither. There has never been anyone like him in my experience, so you can say it was interesting knowing him and I'm sorry it ended that way."
Peter Roebuck was born on Mar 6, 1956.