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Chasing Shadows: The Life and Death of Peter Roebuck Paperback – 19 Nov. 2015

by E Cartledge (Author), T. Lane (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 165 ratings
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This is the revealing story of a man who was an enigma: a cricketer, cricket commentator and philanthropist who had it all, then died tragically.

Part biography, part personal reflection and part investigation, Chasing Shadows celebrates Roebuck's immense achievements as a player, captain, writer, broadcaster and philanthropist, but doesn't shy away from the controversies that plagued his life or the uncertainty surrounding his shocking death. Investigations by the authors have uncovered details previously unknown to the public, while some of the cricket world s giants have volunteered due praise and criticism for this remarkable, tragic figure.

Tim Lane and co-author Elliot Cartledge explore the 'Roebuck phenomenon' how this seemingly awkward and eccentric intellectual giant became, briefly, an English cricket captain, was embroiled in a long-standing feud with the likes of Ian Botham and Viv Richards, gained adulation throughout the world and established what was essentially a homespun charity to put scores of impoverished Africans through secondary schooling and university. Along with the recollections and revelations of colleague and confidante Tim Lane, the book features in its telling the likes of Ian Botham, Viv Richards, Ian Chappell, Mark Nicholas, Steve Waugh, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Kerry O'Keefe, Martin Crowe, Mike Coward, Jim Maxwell and many others.

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  1. Print length
    304 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Hardie Grant Books
  4. Publication date
    19 Nov. 2015
  5. Dimensions
    27.6 x 2.7 x 15.5 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    1743790120
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1743790120
  8. See all details
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Product description

Review

Cartledge and Lane have woven a net to catch the shadows, and they capture just enough of Roebuck s essence - more than anyone has to date to make an odd story compelling. --Inside Cricket

A Meticulous study of a highly talented but seemingly repressed cricketer. --The Cricketer

About the Author

Tim Lane is one of the most well-known and respected sporting commentators in Australia, having called test cricket for over 30 years. Elliot Cartledge is a freelance editor and author. He has played and coached cricket in four different continents, has extensive contacts in both playing and official ranks, and has worked in cricket development for the ICC.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hardie Grant Books; Paperback edition (19 Nov. 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1743790120
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1743790120
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 27.6 x 2.7 x 15.5 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 165 ratings

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
165 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book brilliantly researched and well-written. They also describe the writing as polished, articulate, and easy to comprehend. Readers describe the narrative as compelling, interesting, and thought-provoking.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

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Research qualityWriting qualityNarrative qualityThought provoking
11 customers mention ‘Research quality’11 positive0 negative

Customers find the book brilliantly researched and written. They say it's as good as an investigative piece of writing they have ever read.

"...of fairness and open mindedness and it is probably the most informative and objective book we are likely to see about this strange and difficult man...." Read more

"...This book is as good as a investigative piece of writing that i have possibly ever read?..." Read more

"...have made a valiant attempt to unravel the enigma in a painstakingly researched and well written book." Read more

"...must admit I started to flag as I approached the end of what is a well-researched and well-written book...." Read more

8 customers mention ‘Writing quality’8 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing quality of the book polished, articulate, and easy to comprehend. They also say it offers a clearer self-portrait and presents an endlessly fascinating picture of an inexplicable character.

"...It has been written in a totally balanced manner with no obvious preconceptions or personal views held by the authors and like all great pieces of..." Read more

"...contains some of his best and most subtle writing, it also offers a clearer self-portrait than in anything else he wrote...." Read more

"...The writing is polished, articulate and easy to comprehend...." Read more

"...It's a reasonably well written and balanced account airing a wide range of opinions expressed by people who knew Roebuck...." Read more

4 customers mention ‘Narrative quality’4 positive0 negative

Customers find the narrative quality compelling, interesting, and an examination of Peter Roebuck's life.

"...With regard to his personal life, the biography is well informed, while partly leaving you to draw your own conclusions...." Read more

"...at times & hard to follow at others, but overall its a fascinating account of an intriguing if unsympathetic character & a change from the standard..." Read more

"A really interesting biography of a controversial but troubled soul...." Read more

"First class read for anyone interested in cricket .A compelling story of llife .and I totally agree with the other views presented here." Read more

4 customers mention ‘Thought provoking’4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book thought-provoking, poignant, and moving. They say it provides a good insight into a tortured soul.

"Thought provoking book documenting the life and death of a complex and tormented character." Read more

"A good insight into a tortured soul and very private man. I learned about aspects of Somerset cricket I didn't expect - a thought - provoking book" Read more

"Deeply moving and troubling book about a troubled man...." Read more

"A Poignant Read...." Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Geoffrey Bellamy
5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply moving and troubling book about a troubled man.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 February 2020
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I remember the name of Peter Roebuck as mentioned among those county cricketers who never made the Test Team, but who were very good County players.
I also remember the furious hoo-har which accompanied the decision by Somerset to dispense with the services of Viv Richards and Joel Garner. This made some of the issues I saw with my own Yorkshire seem quite tame, which took some doing!!
The writers are at considerable pains to try to present a fair and balanced view, backed up by evidence, where it could be elicited.
I didn’t know the later part of the story, concerning his radio and journalism work, his coaching and teaching work.
It made for compulsive reading and one sensed as one read a growing feeling of impending tragedy. Roebuck clearly had some demons within, which he failed to control at times.
The differing views on him by those he worked with show that he was a complicated man. Some adored and admired him greatly, others found him predatory and abhorrent.
The full truth will probably never be known, but this book does give much food for thought and reflection.
His death was so terribly sad, he cast a long shadow in the lives of so many people.
One came away feeling a mixture of admiration and repulsion, which I think seems to sum up the views of those who knew him and either loved or loathed him.
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Barry Dougall
4.0 out of 5 stars Life and death of an Oddball
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 July 2020
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Back in the summer of 1975 I was in Cambridge with some spare hours to fill and wandered in to Fenner's Cricket Ground where the University team were playing Nottingham CCC. Memories of a pleasant afternoon include witnessing the amazing athleticism of Derek Randall fielding at cover, Harry Latchman's leg spin and the batting of Cambridge student Peter Roebuck. Roebuck, a studious looking bespectacled batsman, did not score many runs that day but batted with a Boycott-like tenacity and aversion to risk taking. I noticed later that he joined Somerset as a professional after University, and became a regular in an attractive side that included three world class players: Viv Richards, Joel Garner and Ian Botham. Roebuck had risen to be Club Captain when it was announced that Somerset were dispensing with the services of Richards and Garner after the Club's poor performances in the Championship and were taking on New Zealander Martin Crowe as their replacement. As cricket followers familiar with this era will know all this caused a great deal of controversy and Peter Roebuck was identified as the instigator of the decision to release the two West Indians, highly popular though they both were with the Somerset supporters. Roebuck had his way and received for the rest of days much opprobrium, mostly from Ian Botham who also left the club, in support of Richards and Garner, and was generally regarded as having acted nobly in the affair. It is not a surprise when reading this book to learn that Roebuck was an eccentric and very private man with strong and unusual views on a variety of issues. In 2001 he pleaded guilty to assaulting some young men he had been coaching and received a suspended sentence, an unsympathetic Judge suggesting Roebuck's behaviour with his young charges had sexual motives. "Chasing Shadows" describes Roebuck's disillusionment with England following his trial and his adopting Australia as his new home where he built up a reputation as cricket journalist and commentator with erudite and outspoken opinions. In South Africa in 2011 Roebuck was accused of sexual assault by a 26 year old Zimbabwean man and arrested in his hotel room. Shortly afterwards he is believed to have jumped out of his sixth floor window and died of his injuries. The authors of this book have gone to meticulous lengths in an effort to unravel the mysteries of Roebuck's life and have succeeded in interviewing a number of key figures including a woman, perhaps the only woman, with whom he had a relationship, his elusive Zimbabwean accuser , and a number of friends and critics of the cricketer. A notable exception to this otherwise diligent work is no interview with Sir Ian Botham, who does not come out of this sad story with much if any credit. The tone of the book is one of fairness and open mindedness and it is probably the most informative and objective book we are likely to see about this strange and difficult man. The authors might have come close to the "shadow" they were chasing, but ultimately many questions remain unanswered and what we are still left with is much conjecture and speculation on the motives, life and premature death of Peter Roebuck.
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Simon Wheeler
5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliant piece of literary investagation
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 June 2020
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Firstly despite being a compulsive reader i very rarely write book reviews and I find on average that i read one stand out book every year but just recently i have read two in a matter of months? The first being the totally brilliant Steve Smiths Men by Geoff Lemon and now this one? This book is as good as a investigative piece of writing that i have possibly ever read? It has been written in a totally balanced manner with no obvious preconceptions or personal views held by the authors and like all great pieces of writing of this nature it leaves the reader with so much to think about and at the conclusion leaves so many questions which sadly will be forever unanswered? I can pay no greater than to suggest that the subject of this book Peter Roebuck had built after a successful cricket career began to build himself a reputation as being an even finer cricket journalist and therefore i feel he would have admired the way in which this book has been presented ............. but then again would he? Sadly we will never know.
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Top reviews from other countries

Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars A very good account of the life of a strange but tormented ...
Reviewed in the United States on 6 August 2017
Verified Purchase
A very good account of the life of a strange but tormented person. Well researched. A good read for any cricket lover (no pun intended)
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Paul J. Hogan
4.0 out of 5 stars Peter Roebuck was a great cricket writer/commentator and a fine cricketer
Reviewed in Australia on 8 December 2015
Verified Purchase
Peter Roebuck was a great cricket writer/commentator and a fine cricketer. I followed his work and listened to him on the radio. It's an absolute fact that sports writing is poorer for his passing.
Tim Lane has written an interesting and compelling story of the life and death of a very complex human.
There are troubling aspects to Roebuck's life and death, which Lane covers as fully as he can with remarkable sensitively. I am glad I bought the book and congratulate Mr Lane for writing it, but wish there was no reason for it to be written.
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S. Stevens
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended - A great read
Reviewed in the United States on 16 March 2016
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Extremely well written - not that I would expect anything less from Tim Lane! Very balanced, and presented all (known) sides & opinions of Roebuck, to the point where you knew a lot more about him, but are left unsure whether you really know anything more! Just a shame we may never have a proper inquest into his death.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Top Read
Reviewed in Australia on 18 December 2015
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An absolute page turner with twists and turns and lots of interesting stories. A must read for all adult cricket fans
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Rajasekhar
4.0 out of 5 stars The travails of Roebuck well captured
Reviewed in the United States on 9 August 2016
Verified Purchase
Well written with lots of insights into the life and times of one of cricket's great writers. Roebuck's mindset has been well captured
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