Former Somerset captain Peter Roebuck has been found dead at a hotel in South Africa, where he was was covering Australia's Test series. He was 55.

Opening batsman Roebuck led Somerset for much of the 1980s, scoring at least 1,000 runs nine times in 12 seasons.

After retiring from the game, he moved to Australia and South Africa and quickly became as respected a columnist and broadcaster as he was a player.

He wrote for the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Cricinfo website.

Roebuck had been working for the Herald and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) during the current series.

The Grandstand programme's manager Craig Norenbergs described the news of Roebuck's passing as "incredibly sad".

He added: "He was an integral part of the Grandstand commentary team, apart from being a magnificent print journalist.

"For us he could describe a game of cricket in such a way that even if you didn't like the game, you liked the way that he went about his business."

It has been reported that he was in a disturbed state the previous evening and was spoken to by police in his hotel room. Police removed personal items from his room. His body was taken to the mortuary in the early hours of the morning. A statement issued by South African police confirmed he had taken his own life.

At Taunton Crown Court in 2001, Roebuck pleaded guilty to assaulting three 19-year-old South African cricketers who had been staying at his home. He was given a four-month suspended jail sentence.