by Arunabha Sengupta
The skipper had just passed 200 wickets in Test cricket. The special presentation at Kingsmead at the end of the Test match had both his father and his uncle in attendance.
That evening, the father and the uncle joined him for supper at his flat in North Durban. They were proud of the young red-haired lad, very proud. But being the men they were, they wanted that tiny bit more. Perhaps the uncle was the one who desired it more than anyone else. After all, the father’s deeds had already been surpassed by the lad. But there was surely a bit of the uncle’s greatness that had been passed on to him by those fantastic genes.
Thus, during dinner, it was suggested: “Now for the century.” The two older men advised that he should stop fiddling around and get back to hitting the ball aggressively, as he had done at the start of his Test career. 49 Tests and no hundred yet, that was a shame.
The hundred did not take place in the 50th Test either. He did not get a hit, declaring the innings as Lance Klusener fell for 97. That had been the problem right from the start. Batting too low. With Boucher, Klusener, McMillan and all of them crowding the lower middle-order, he could not move up to play a meaningful innings.
Not that too many complained. With the ball he had 210 wickets in those 50 Tests at 19.86. Here was an all-time great bowler. He did have eight fifties, but that was just a bonus. That he was inching into a supreme all-rounder escaped many. A bowler who could bat … only careful scrutiny showed a batting average approaching 30.
But the elusive three-figure knock was notched up during the third Test at Centurion. Not that he came up the order, he was at No 9. But South Africa were struggling, at 204 for 7. He went out and followed the advice of his uncle and his father. The situation did not matter. He started hitting hard and often.
This is what Wisden wrote about the knock: “He transformed everything with a maiden Test century of such velocity, as well as class, that few believed his innings could have lasted 23 minutes, let alone 123. Deliveries that had reared to hit the splice of other bats hit nothing but the middle of his, everything he touched turned to gold, or four or six. While his power was well known, it was the timing of the extracover drives, played mostly on the up, that gave his hundred its signature.”
50 in 35 balls, 100 off 99. The first hundred in the 51st Test, at that stage a record. In the stands both Peter and Graeme Pollock smiled. Shaun Pollock had finally done some justice to the batting potential.
We all know his bowling abilities. Coached by Malcolm Marshall at Durban in the early 1990s, and basing his training on solid work ethics, he developed into one of the most potent forces with the new ball.
In 2003, when he was selected as one of the five cricketers of Wisden, it was mentioned that his bowling was straight, tight and as incisive as Glenn McGrath’s. Peter Robinson wrote that he was perhaps the straightest bowler in world cricket and also able to move the ball both ways at lively pace.
And his haul of 431 wickets at 23.11 puts him at par with the very best. The 393 ODI scalps add to the aura.
However, we often forget that he amassed 3781 runs at 32.31 as well, more than 2000 of those from No 8 or lower. It marks him out as one of the best all-rounders to have played the game, certainly one of the most underrated.
In fact, the numbers had been even more fascinating a year after relinquishing his captaincy to Graeme Smith. At that stage in 2003, after 76 Tests Pollock had 2780 runs at 34.75 and 310 wickets at 20.73. Numbers rivalling the likes of Imran Khan and Keith Miller.
His last four and a half years were not bad. 32 Tests for 1001 runs at 27.05 and 111 wickets at 29.76 would be the good figures for any respected all-rounder. But for someone like Pollock they were below par.
Sadly, Pollock the captain is remembered for the blunder with Duckworth Lewis sheets during the 2003 World Cup.
But with 14 wins and 5 losses in his 23 Tests at the helm, Pollock is the most successful South African captain in terms of Win/Loss ratio with a cut off of 8 Tests.59 wins and 29 losses in ODIs was not bad either. Teammates said that he did not socialise. Being a teetotaller that was always going to be a problem. Perhaps he was not a man-manager like some others.
But taking over from Hansie Cronje after all that scandal, he did his job and did it better than expected.
Peter and Graeme Pollock, two of the greatest names in South African cricket, one of them perhaps among the top five batsmen of the world, one a most feared fast bowler of his day. They had reason to smile even at the end of his career.
Shaun Pollock did live up to their names and expectations. And went beyond.
He was born on 16 July 1973.