Shaun Pollock

Shaun Maclean Pollock OIS (born 16 July 1973) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer, who was captain in all formats of the game. He is considered as one of the finest medium pacers of his time. A genuine bowling all-rounder, Pollock along with Allan Donald formed a bowling partnership for many years. From 2000 to 2003 he was the captain of the South African cricket team, and also played for Africa XI, World XI, Dolphins and Warwickshire. He was chosen as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2003.

Shaun Pollock

Personal information
Full name	Shaun Maclean Pollock
Born	(1973-07-16) 16 July 1973 Port Elizabeth, Cape Province, South Africa
Nickname	Polly
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Batting	Right-handed
Bowling	Right arm fast-medium
Role	All-rounder
Relations	AM Pollock (grandfather) PM Pollock (father) RG Pollock (uncle)
International information
National side	South Africa (1995–2008)
Test debut (cap 261)	16 November 1995 v England
Last Test	10 January 2008 v West Indies
ODI debut (cap 39)	9 January 1996 v England
Last ODI	3 February 2008 v West Indies
ODI shirt no.	7
T20I debut (cap 10)	21 October 2005 v New Zealand
Last T20I	18 January 2008 v West Indies
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1992/93–2003/04	KwaZulu-Natal
1996–2002	Warwickshire
2004/05	Dolphins
2008	Mumbai Indians
2008	Durham
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI FC LA Matches 108 303 186 435 Runs scored 3,781 3,519 7,021 5,494 Batting average 32.31 26.45 33.11 26.66 100s/50s 2/16 1/14 6/35 3/24 Top score 111 130 150* 134* Balls bowled 24,353 15,712 39,067 21,588 Wickets 421 393 667 573 Bowling average 23.11 24.50 23.25 22.93 5 wickets in innings 16 5 22 7 10 wickets in match 1 0 2 0 Best bowling 7/87 6/35 7/33 6/21 Catches/stumpings 72/– 108/– 132/– 153/–
Source: CricketArchive, 20 September 2016

On 11 January 2008 he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket after his 303rd One Day International on 3 February.[1] Pollock now works as a commentator on SuperSport’s coverage of South African cricket.

International career

Prominence

He is joint 10th in the all-time best ever bowler ratings in the LG ICC Ratings,[2] and has taken over 400 wickets and at the time of his retirement was one of only six players to have scored 3000 runs and taken 300 wickets in Test matches.

In June 2007 he represented an Africa XI in an ODI game against an Asia XI in Bangalore. Playing as a specialist batsman, Pollock scored 130 from number 7 in the batting order, the highest ever score by an ODI batsman in that position.[3] The record would however not last long, MS Dhoni bettered it later in the series.

He was the leading wicket taker for South Africa in Tests until Dale Steyn overtook him on 26 December 2018. He took over 400 test wickets and scored over 3,700 test runs in his 108 Test matches.[4][5]

Captaincy

Shaun Pollock was a bowling all-rounder. After Hansie Cronje was banned from cricket for life, Pollock took over the captaincy in April 2000. He was eventually removed from the captaincy after South Africa's performance in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.[6]

Pollock batting for South Africa in 1998 at Trent Bridge

Although no longer captain, he retained his place in the team. After a disappointing Test series tour of Australia in 2005/2006, he faced criticism for losing his wicket taking ability. He has the lowest (best) economy rate of any bowler to have taken 300 ODI wickets,[7] and he is also the first South African and only the tenth player to take 400 Test wickets. In September 2007 he was dropped from the South African test side for the first time in his career.[4] Pollock was later readded to the test series against the West Indies, whereupon he announced his retirement, effective on 3 February 2008. He stated that "I realise I have been blessed by God and feel I have nurtured my talents to the best of my abilities."[1] After South Africa sealed a series victory against the West Indies, Graeme Smith paid tribute to Pollock, stating "It's very important that people celebrate what he's given to South African cricket and what he's achieved as an individual."[8] Shaun Pollock later represented Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, and Durham Dynamos in the 2008 Twenty20 Cup in England.

Domestic career

Pollock took four wickets in four balls on his first appearance for Warwickshire – in a limited-overs (B&H Cup) game v Leicestershire at Birmingham in 1996. He also recently received the SA Player's Player award and the SA ODI Player of the Year Award.[9]

A graph showing Pollock's test career bowling statistics and how they have varied over time.

In Summer 2008 he played for Durham County Cricket Club in the North East of England and along with fellow South African Albie Morkel was used mainly in the Twenty20 Cup competition.

Of the 18 players who have bowled at least 2,000 balls for South Africa in ODIs, Pollock's economy rate of 3.65 runs per over was the second best behind that of Fanie de Villiers.[10]

Records

• Shaun Pollock has the record for the most number of test centuries when batting at number 9 position (2).[11]
• He also holds the record for playing the most number of ODI innings before scoring a century (189).[12]
• Shaun Pollock also holds the record for becoming the first test captain to be stranded or to be remained unbeaten on 99 in a test innings.[13][14]
• He too holds the record for taking the most number of ODI wickets when playing at home soil (193).[15]

Rankings

See also: Player of the Match awards (cricket)

Shaun Pollock's career-best ranking and rating in the cricket ratings as determined by the International Cricket Council are as follows:

• Test Batting 37th (565)
• Test Bowling 1st (909)
• Test All-rounders 1st (489)
• ODI Batting 34th (589)
• ODI Bowling 1st (917)
• ODI All-rounders 1st (496)

Personal life

Pollock comes from a family of mainly Scottish ancestry. His paternal grandfather, Andrew Pollock, who played for Orange Free State, was born in Edinburgh.[16] He attended Northwood School in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. He is married to Patricia "Trish" Lauderdale and has two daughters, Jemma and Georgia. Jemma was born in August 2003, and Georgia in July 2006. Lauderdale was a finalist in the Miss South Africa pageant in the early '90s and also worked for MTN, a South African telecom company.[17] He is a teetotaller and a devout Christian.[18][19] Pollock is a graduate of the University of Natal with a bachelor's degree in commerce.

References

1. Pollock announces his retirement BBC News retrieved 11 January 2008
2. LG ICC Best-Ever Test Bowling Ratings
3. "Records – One-Day Internationals – Most runs in an innings (by batting position)". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
4. Pollock dropped by South Africa BBC News retrieved 29 September 2007
5. "Steyn ties Pollock atop all-time SA wicket-taker list". Sport24. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
6. "Cricket's darkest day". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
7. "Records – One-Day Internationals – Most wickets in career". Cricinfo. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
8. Smith salutes legendary Pollock BBC News retrieved 12 January 2007
9. Pollock is SA's player of the year (2007)
10. "Records / South Africa / One-Day Internationals / Best economy rates". Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 24 November 2011.
11. "Most test centuries at each batting positions". Cricinfo.com. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
12. "HowSTAT! ODI Cricket - Most Innings before First Century". www.howstat.com. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
13. "Statistics / Statsguru / Test matches / Batting records". www.cricinfo.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
14. "Stranded on 99, and stranded on four". www.cricinfo.com. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
15. "Most wickets taken by a bowler in ODI matches played at home soil". Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
16. "Players and Officials – Andrew Pollock". Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
17. "Pollock in doubt for Sri Lanka". News24.com. 8 June 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
18. "Cricinfo Quote Unquote – Gibbs reveals the failure to get teetotaler Pollock to break the habit". Cricinfo.com. 10 February 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
19. Personal Information on Shaun Pollock

External links

• Shaun Pollock at ESPNcricinfo

Preceded by Hansie Cronje	South African Test cricket captain 2000/1–2001/2	Succeeded by Mark Boucher
Preceded by Mark Boucher	South African Test cricket captain 2001/2–2002/3	Succeeded by Graeme Smith
Preceded by Hansie Cronje	South African ODI cricket captain 2000–2005	Succeeded by Graeme Smith