'Roebuck was questioned about an alleged sexual assault'

Renowned cricket writer Peter Roebuck took the extreme step of committing suicide after being questioned by police about an alleged sexual assault, media reports said.

- Police confirm Peter Roebuck committed suicide

A report in the Sydney Morning Herald, a newspaper in which Roebuck's columns appeared regularly, said a Cape Town detective and a uniformed police officer from the sexual crimes unit began speaking with Roebuck in his hotel room about 9pm.

Roebuck then sought help from a fellow cricket journalist by saying, 'Can you come down to my room quickly? I've got a problem' and it is believed only the uniformed officer was in the room, according to the report.

Cape Town police captain Frederick van Wyk refused comment when asked if Roebuck was questioned about a sexual assault but 'Herald Sun' quoted a source as saying that police did question the cricket commentator about such allegations.

"The police came to his room and wanted to speak to him. I'm told he was being questioned for sexual assault," the source told Herald Sun, another Australian newspaper.

Roebuck, the 55-year-old British national, who captained Somerset in the 1980s, was in this country to cover the current series between South Africa and Australia.