Shaun Pollock
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Shaun Maclean Pollock OIS (born 16 July 1973) is a South African cricket commentator and former
cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
er, who was captain in all formats of the game. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers and allrounders of all time. A genuine bowling all-rounder, Pollock along with
Allan Donald Allan Anthony Donald (born 20 October 1966) is a South African former cricketer who is also the current bowling coach of Bangladesh national cricket team. Often nicknamed 'White Lightning' due to his lightning quick bowling, he is considered ...
formed a bowling partnership for many years. From 2000 to 2003 he was the captain of the
South African cricket team The South Africa national cricket team, also known as the Proteas, represents South Africa in men's international cricket and is administered by Cricket South Africa (CSA). South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council (I ...
, and also played for Africa XI, World XI,
Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...
and
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...
. He was chosen as the ''
Wisden ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
'' Cricketer of the Year in 2003. On 11 January 2008 he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket after his 303rd One Day International on 3 February. Pollock now works as a commentator on SuperSport's coverage of South African cricket. In November 2021, he was inducted to the
ICC Cricket Hall of Fame The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame recognises "the achievements of the legends of the game from cricket's long and illustrious history". It was launched by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in Dubai on 2 January 2009, in association with the Fed ...
.


International career


Prominence

He is joint 10th in the all-time best ever bowler ratings in the LG ICC Ratings, 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 Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
. 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. The record would however not last long, MS Dhoni bettered it later in the series. In 2007, he received the SA Player's Player award and the SA ODI Player of the Year Award. He was the leading wicket taker for South Africa in Tests until
Dale Steyn Dale Willem Steyn (; born 27 June 1983) is a South African former professional cricketer who played for the South African Cricket Team. He is often regarded as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time and the best Test bowler of his generat ...
overtook him on 26 December 2018. He took over 400 test wickets and scored over 3,700 test runs in his 108 Test matches.


Captaincy

Shaun Pollock was a bowling all-rounder. After
Hansie Cronje Wessel Johannes "Hansie" Cronje (25 September 1969 – 1 June 2002) was a South African international cricketer and captain of the South African national cricket team in the 1990s. A right-handed all-rounder, as captain Cronje led his team to vi ...
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. 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, 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. Pollock was later readded to the test series against the
West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...
, 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." 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."


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. In Summer 2008 Pollock represented Mumbai Indians in the
Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...
, and Durham Dynamos in the 2008 Twenty20 Cup in England. 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 Petrus Stephanus "Fanie" de Villiers (born 13 October 1964), is a retired cricketer who played 18 Test matches and 83 One Day Internationals for South Africa as a right arm fast-medium bowler and right hand batsman between 1992 and 1998. He ...
.


Records

*Shaun Pollock has the record for the most Test centuries while batting at number 9 or below (2). *He also holds the record for playing the most ODI innings before scoring a century (189). *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. *He too holds the record for taking the most ODI wickets when playing at home soil (193). *Shaun Pollock holds the record for bowling most Maiden overs in ODI history (313).


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. He attended Northwood School in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. He is married with two daughters. His wife was a finalist in the Miss South Africa pageant in the early '90s and worked for a South African telecom company. He is a teetotaler and a devout Christian.Personal Information on Shaun Pollock
Retrieved 3 December 2022.
Pollock is a graduate of the
University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu-N ...
with a bachelor's degree in
commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, Shaun 1973 births Living people University of Natal alumni South Africa One Day International cricketers South Africa Test cricketers South Africa Twenty20 International cricketers South Africa Test cricket captains South African Christians Dolphins cricketers Durham cricketers KwaZulu-Natal cricketers Warwickshire cricketers ACA African XI One Day International cricketers ICC World XI One Day International cricketers Wisden Cricketers of the Year South African people of British descent White South African people South African people of Scottish descent Cricketers at the 1996 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1999 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2003 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 2007 Cricket World Cup Cricketers at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for South Africa Mumbai Indians cricketers South African cricket commentators Sportspeople from Port Elizabeth Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga Indian Premier League coaches Commonwealth Games medallists in cricket Alumni of Northwood School, Durban