Jim Maxwell, in The Weekend Australian 29 October 2016, where the title is “The Pain of Losing My Mate Roebers,”... with emphasis added by the Editor, Thuppahi,
I have lost count of how many times I have cleared my throat and welcomed people to a Test match, but that morning at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg I struggled. It was the most difficult broadcast of my life. I can turn on a microphone and talk for hours when the covers are on and the rain is falling, but this was a situation I had never encountered.
I’d lost one of my best friends. Colleague and commentator Peter Roebuck was gone. He’d jumped out the window of our Cape Town hotel a few days before. Jumped just moments after I had left his room.
I was doing OK, but it was a battle. I tried to shut out emotion and concentrate on the job at hand. He’d have scoffed at me for being so maudlin. I got on with the show.
Ever the internationalist, he disliked nationalism and cheerleading. He was judgmental and decisive in making a point. He took up Australian citizenship. I remember asking what it was like being an Australian. He said: “Being Australian is sitting up the front of the taxi cab, never taking the back seat.” He saw Australia as a country that was striving, vibrant and challenging. Continue reading
