18 January 2012 Last updated at 11:10 ET

Peter Roebuck: Cricketer's inquest adjourned

Roebuck was found dead in South Africa

An inquest has opened and adjourned at Warrington Coroner's Court into the death in November in South Africa of ex-Somerset cricketer Peter Roebuck.

Mr Roebuck, 55, from Neston, Wirral, was found dead at a hotel in Cape Town.

He had been reporting on Australia's test service for The Sydney Herald and Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The batsman, who played for Somerset from 1974 to 1991 and captained the county side, was a former summariser with BBC Radio's Test Match Special.

The South African authorities had reported that Mr Roebuck died after falling from a building.

At the request of the coroner, a post-mortem examination took place on Monday at Liverpool Royal Hospital.

The coroner for Cheshire, Nicholas Rheinberg, formally opened the inquest on Wednesday and then adjourned the case to a date yet to be fixed.

A spokesman for Cheshire Police, who are now investigating the death on behalf of HM Coroner, said: "The South African authorities have reported that Mr Peter Michael Roebuck died after falling from a building in Cape Town, South Africa, in November 2011.

"Whilst the full findings of the post-mortem are still to be established, at this stage the indication is that Mr Roebuck did have injuries consistent with a fall."

After retiring from county cricket, Mr Roebuck became a respected writer and broadcaster first in the UK then in Australia, renowned for his strong opinions.