Cricket: Cricketer arrested over spanking

Former English county cricketer Peter Roebuck has been arrested and questioned by Avon and Somerset police about allegations that he spanked a young South African batsman.

Roebuck, aged 44, now a cricket journalist, was released on police bail to reappear at Exmouth police station in Devon next month.

Police said he was arrested at his home in Exmouth on suspicion of two assaults occasioning actual bodily harm.

The investigation is believed to centre on claims by the 19-year-old South African that Roebuck beat his buttocks with a cane or bat while he was sharing his home in Taunton, Somerset, last year.

The batsman, who came to Britain to be coached by Roebuck, alleged that the beatings were punishments for poor performance.

Roebuck, who captained Devon in the minor counties championship for six years until last summer, moved from Taunton to a villa in Exmouth after the allegations became public last year.

He is a former captain of Somerset.