Graeme Pollock

Pollock in 2000
Personal information
Full name	Robert Graeme Pollock
Born	(1944-02-27)27 February 1944 (age 81) Durban,Natal Province,Union of South Africa
Nickname	Little Dog
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Batting	Left-handed
Bowling	Leg break
Role	Batsman
Relations	Andrew Maclean Pollock (father) Robert Howden (uncle) Peter Pollock (brother) Ravenor Nicholson (cousin) Christopher Robert Nicholson (cousin) Andrew Graeme Pollock (son) Anthony Pollock (son) Shaun Pollock (nephew)
International information
National side	South Africa
Test debut (cap 218)	6 December 1963 v Australia
Last Test	5 March 1970 v Australia
Domestic team information
Years	Team
1960/61–1977/78	Eastern Province
1978/79–1986/87	Transvaal
Career statistics
Competition Test FC LA Matches 23 262 119[1] Runs scored 2,256 20,940 4,788 Batting average 60.97 54.67 51.48 100s/50s 7/11 64/99 13/25 Top score 274 274 222* Balls bowled 414 3,743 53 Wickets 4 43 0 Bowling average 51.00 47.95 – 5 wickets in innings 0 0 – 10 wickets in match 0 0 – Best bowling 2/50 3/46 – Catches/stumpings 17/0 248/0 45/0
Source:CricketArchive,4 November 2008

Robert Graeme Pollock (born 27 February 1944) is a formercricketer forSouth Africa,Transvaal andEastern Province. A member of a famous cricketing family,^[2][3] Pollock is widely regarded as one of South Africa's greatest ever cricketers,^[4][5] and as one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket.^[2][5][6] Despite Pollock's international career being cut short at the age of 26 by thesporting boycott of South Africa, and all but one of his 23 Test matches being againstEngland andAustralia, the leading cricket nations of the day,^[5] he broke a number of records. His completed career Test matchbatting average (twenty innings minimum) of 60.97 remains the third best behind SirDon Bradman andAdam Voges.^[7]

Pollock has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including being voted in 1999 as South Africa'sCricketer of the 20th Century,^[4] one of Wisden'sCricketers of the Year in 1966,^[2] as well as being retrospectively selected in 2007 as theWisden Leading Cricketer in the World in 1967 and 1969. In South Africa he was player of the year in 1961 and 1984, with special tributes in the S.A. Cricket annuals of 1977 and 1987. Bradman described Pollock, along with SirGarfield Sobers, as the best left-handed batsman he had ever seen play cricket.^[2]

In 2009, Pollock was inducted into theICC Cricket Hall of Fame.^[8]

Pollock was born into a Scottish family inDurban,Natal Province,Union of South Africa on 27 February 1944. His grandfather was aPresbyterian minister,^[9] and his father,Andrew, was a formerfirst-class cricketer withOrange Free State and theeditor of theEastern Province Herald.^[9][10]As a youth, Pollock earned the nicknameLittle Dog:^[11]

The name arose when his brother [Peter], with voice still unbroken, made queer-sounding appeals forl.b.w. The humorist,SpringbokAtholl McKinnon, said they sounded like a dog barking, and called himPooch. When Graeme joined the provincial eleven they becameBig Dog andLittle Dog.

Pollock attendedGrey High School—a noted sporting school inPort Elizabeth—where he was coached by Sussex professionalGeorge Cox and Hampshire professionalTom Dean.^[12][13] In his first match for Grey Junior, aged 9, he took all ten wickets before scoring 117not out.^[12][14] At one stage, he hit a six into a neighbouring cemetery and had to fetch the ball himself.^[15] He was selected for his first match for the schoolFirst XI as a leg spinner, taking six wickets for five runs.^[15] At 15, Pollock was selected to represent South Africa schoolboys.^[15]

In 1960, aged 16 and still attendingGrey High School, Pollock was chosen to appear forEastern Province.^[16] Hisfirst-class cricket debut was againstBorder at theJan Smuts Ground inEast London, where he made 54 runs before beingrun out. He then went on to take two wickets in Border's second innings.^[17] Later that season he scored his maiden first-classcentury, scoring 102 againstTransvaal B, becoming the youngest South African to score a first-class century.^[16][18] Pollock played five matches for Eastern Province in his debut season, scoring 384 runs at anaverage of 48.00.^[19] In 1961, while visiting Britain with his parents, he played six matches with theSussex Second XI.^[14]

In the1962–63 South African season, Pollock finished second in the averages, scoring 839 runs including three centuries at an average of 69.66.^[20] The highlight of his season was scoring 209 not out for an Eastern Province Invitational XI against theInternational Cavaliers, which included bowlers such asRichie Benaud andGraham McKenzie.^[21] Benaud was to describe the innings as "magnificent", later saying "I knew I was watching a champion."^[22] Aged 19, Pollock was the youngest South African to score a double-century in first-class cricket.^[9]

Pollock was 19 when he was selected for the1963–64 South African cricket team's tour of Australia.^[2] He had a disappointing start to the tour, making 1 and 0 againstWestern Australia, dismissed twice by McKenzie.^[23] He recovered in the next match scoring 127 not out against aWestern Australia Combined XI.^[24] He made his Test debut atthe Gabba inBrisbane making 25 in a rain-interrupted match before again being dismissed by McKenzie. The match was an infamous one with the Australian bowlerIan Meckiffno-balled forthrowing, effectively ending his career.^[12][25] Pollock was not successful in the Second Test at theMelbourne Cricket Ground, making 16 and 2 as South Africa were heavily defeated by eight wickets.^[26]

Pollock's performances in the first two Tests of the series raised questions over the youngster's place, but, in the third Test inSydney, Pollock made 122 in South Africa's first innings. Bradman commented: "Next time you decide to play like that, send me a telegram".^[4] At 19 years and 317 days he became the youngest South African to score a Test century, a record he held until it was broken byLhuan-dre Pretorius in 2025.^[27] InAdelaide, in the fourth Test, Pollock andEddie Barlow shared a South African third-wicket record partnership of 341; Pollock hitting 175 and Barlow 201. South Africa won the Test by 10 wickets to level the series 1–1. Pollock finished his maiden series with 399 runs to his name, at an average of 57.00. During Pollock's innings of 17 in the drawn fifth Test, he suffered an injury which resulted in him missing the first two Tests of the New Zealand tour which followed.^[11]

England toured South Africa in 1964–65 under the captaincy ofMike Smith. Pollock was selected in all five Tests against the tourists. England won the First Test atKingsmead convincingly by an innings and 104 runs, with Pollock making 5 and a first ballduck.^[28] The remaining Tests were all drawn.^[29] In the final Test atSt George's Park, Pollock made 137 in the first innings, withWisden Cricketers' Almanack describing it as "a splendid century, distinguished by many drives past cover and mid-on."^[30] In the second, he made an unbeaten 77.^[31] In the Tests, Pollock made 459 runs at an average of 57.37.^[32]

Pollock was included totour England with the South African team in 1965. In the Second Test atTrent Bridge, Pollock made 125, an innings he described in his autobiography as his best.^[33] He made his runs out of 160 added in 140 minutes, the last 91 of his runs coming in 70 minutes. He had come in at 16/2, and the score had declined to 80/5, before his partnerships with the captainPeter van der Merwe and withRichard Dumbrill enabled the score to reach 269.John Woodcock wrote inThe Cricketer, "Not since Bradman's day could anyone recall having seen an English attack treated in such cavalier style." while the same correspondent inThe Times said, "I can think of no innings played against England since the [Second World] war which was so critical and commanding: I can think of none more beautifully played."^[33]E.W. Swanton wrote inThe Daily Telegraph that it was an innings "which in point of style and power, of ease and beauty of execution is fit to rank with anything in the annals of the game."^[34] In the second innings, Pollock scored 59. It was a notable match for the Pollock brothers; older brotherPeter took 10 wickets in total as South Africa won the match and, therefore, the three Test series 1–0.^[35] His performances during that English season saw him named as one of theWisden Cricketers of the Year in 1966, acclaimed as "one of the most accomplished batsmen in contemporary cricket".^[14]

In 1966–67,Bob Simpson led his Australian team to South Africa for a five Test series. The South Africans won the First Test atWanderers after trailing by 126 after the first innings and scoring 620 runs in the second innings. Pollock scored 90 from 104 balls.^[36] Describing Pollock's innings,Wisden said "[he] looked without peer and his timing, placing and wristwork were an object lesson for the purist."^[37] In the Second Test atNewlands, responding to an Australian total of 542, Pollock made 209 runs from a team total of 353 despite batting with an injured groin which restricted his footwork and running.^[11] South Africa, however, were unable to avoid the follow-on and eventually lost the match by 6 wickets.^[38] The Third Test was played at Kingsmead in Durban and Pollock made 67 not out in the second innings, withAli Bacher batting South Africa to an eight wicket victory.^[39] The Fourth Test saw rain deny South Africa an almost certain victory.^[40] The final Test at Port Elizabeth saw Pollock, on his birthday, score another century as South Africa won the match by seven wickets to clinch the series three Tests to one.^[41] For the series, Pollock scored 537 runs at an average of 76.71, trailing onlyDenis Lindsay on both measures for the South Africans.^[42]

Pollock and the South Africans were due to play England at home in 1968–69, but tensions stemming from the South African government's apartheid policy came to a head when South African-bornBasil D'Oliveira—ofCape Coloured ancestry—was chosen in the England touring team to replace the injuredTom Cartwright.^[43] The South AfricanPrime MinisterB. J. Vorster denounced the English team as the "team of the anti-apartheid" movement and refused to allow the team to enter South Africa with D'Oliveira in place. The tour was therefore cancelled.^[44]

South Africa's last Test series before their expulsion from international cricket was againstBill Lawry's Australians. The Australians had just completed a gruelling tour of India in vastly different playing conditions before coming to South Africa. Pollock's form continued into the series and he averaged 73.85. Pollock managed to breakJackie McGlew's South African Test record of 255 when he scored 274 in the 2nd Test in Durban. When Pollock was batting in this innings withBarry Richards, the opposing captain, Bill Lawry, said about this innings: "Never have I seen the ball hit with such power by two players at the same time."^[9] He held this record for nearly thirty years untilDaryll Cullinan scored 275 not out againstNew Zealand in 1999.^[2] Pollock was 26 years of age when his Test career was brought to an end.

When the scheduled South African tour of England in 1970 was cancelled, atour by a "Rest of the World" side was arranged to fill the gap. The side, of which Pollock was a member, played five games against England which were promoted at the time as "Tests," but which are not now recognised as such. Pollock had a poor series by his standards, but he did make 114 in the final match atThe Oval, sharing in a fifth wicket partnership of 165 with Gary Sobers.

International isolation was keenly felt by the South African team at the time, including Pollock, and the players took measures to try to reverse the looming sporting boycott.^[45] In 1971, Pollock took part in a protest organised by Barry Richards andMike Procter against the South African government'sapartheid policy as it referred to cricket. During a match to celebrate the tenth anniversary of theformation of the Republic of South Africa, the players from both teams walked off after one ball, issuing a joint statement:

We cricketers feel that the time has come for an expression of our views. We fully support the South African Cricket Association's application to invite non-whites to tour Australia, if they are good enough, and further subscribe to merit being the only criterion on the cricket field.^[45]

During South Africa's international isolation, Pollock played in 16unofficial Test matches against breakaway teams from England, Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Australia. He ended his international career at the age of 42 with a 144 against the rebel Australian team that toured South Africa in 1987.^[46] He scored 1376 runs, including 5 centuries, at an average of 65.52.

Pollock continued playing first-class cricket for Eastern Province and Transvaal until his retirement from the first-class game in the 1986–87 season at the age of 43. He made 20,940 runs in first-class cricket, including 64 centuries and 99 fifties, at an average of 54.67. Despite offers,^[47] Pollock never played inEnglish domestic cricket, once stating that "the domestic grind was not 'my type of game'".^[4][5] Limited overs matches were introduced some time after his career began, and he played 112 innings in the shorter form of the game, tallying 4,656 runs at an average of over 50. In 1974–75 Pollock scored 222 not out for Eastern Province againstBorder in theGillette Cup,^[48] this was the first double century inList A cricket and remained the highest individual innings until 2002 when surpassed byAli Brown.^[49]

By the time of his retirement in 1988, Pollock was already "established in cricket administration: president of the South African Cricket Players' Association, board member and team selector with the Transvaal Cricket Council."^[12] He was appointed a Test selector by theUnited Cricket Board in 2000,^[50] a post he held until 2002,^[51] at which point he was appointed as a batting coach to the South African team.^[52]

Pollock, together with Gary Sobers, was honoured by being chosen to present the match awards following the2003 Cricket World Cup Final in Johannesburg.^[53]

On 26 November 2013, the Centurion pavilion atSt George's Oval was renamed the "Graeme Pollock Pavilion" in honour of his contribution to cricket.

Standing at 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 m), Pollock used his height well to get to the pitch of the ball,^[12] and utilised a strong sense of timing.^[2] He had an upright batting stance and his footwork was balanced and correct.^[4] He used a heavy bat and liked to play thecover drive. To rectify an apparent weakness on theleg side, Pollock developed a very goodpull andleg drive.^[54] With his power, he was able to find the gaps in the field, allowing him to score quickly.^[55] His style of batting was aggressive, not waiting for poor deliveries when looking to score:

Pollock does not need a half-volley or a long hop to score fours: he will drive on the up, or cut, force and pull anything even fractionally short of a good length

Aside from his batting abilities, Pollock was also an occasionalleg-spinner.^[56] His teammateJackie McGlew claimed Pollock could have made an outstanding bowler—"He bowled right over the top and really made the ball 'fizz'"—but he bowled mainly for enjoyment and with a light heart.^[57] In total, he took 4 Test wickets and 43 in first-class cricket. He was also a naturally giftedfielder.^[56]

Pollock's Scottish immigrant fatherAndrew Pollock played cricket for Orange Free State, while his brother,Peter Pollock, was a leading fast bowler who played 28 Test matches for South Africa. Both of Graeme Pollock's sons,Anthony Pollock andAndrew Graeme Pollock, played cricket for Transvaal and Gauteng, while his nephew,Shaun Pollock (son of Peter), retired from the South African Test team in 2008, played in 108 Test matches, captained the country from 2000 to 2003 and was South Africa's leading wicket-taker before being overtaken byDale Steyn.

In 2003, Pollock expressed his thoughts about thesporting boycott of South Africa:

I was twenty-four. We did not give too much thought to the people who were not given the opportunities. In hindsight we certainly could have done much more in trying to get change to Southern Africa. [...] We had a good series against Australia in '67 and we probably had our best side ever. [...] Poor old Barry (Richards) played just four Tests, Mike Procter seven. But at the same time [the protesters] got it absolutely right that the way to bring about change in South Africa was in sport. It was difficult for twenty-two years ... but in hindsight it was needed and I'm delighted it did achieve change in South Africa.

—Graeme Pollock^[58]

		Batting[59]				Bowling[60]
Opposition	Matches	Runs	Average	High Score	100 / 50	Runs	Wickets	Average	Best (Inns)
Australia	14	1,453	69.19	274	5/5	13	0	–	–
England	8	750	53.57	137	2/6	360	4	43.75	2/50
New Zealand	1	53	26.50	30	0/0	16	0	–	–
Overall	23	2,256	60.97	274	7/11	204	4	51.00	2/50

Graeme Pollock's Test Centuries[61]
	Runs	Match	Against	City/Country	Venue	Year
[1]	122	3	Australia	Sydney, Australia	Sydney Cricket Ground	1964
[2]	175	4	Australia	Adelaide, Australia	Adelaide Oval	1964
[3]	137	11	England	Port Elizabeth, South Africa	St George's Park	1965
[4]	125	13	England	Nottingham, England	Trent Bridge	1965
[5]	209	16	Australia	Cape Town, South Africa	Sahara Park Newlands	1966
[6]	105	19	Australia	Port Elizabeth, South Africa	St George's Park	1967
[7]	274	21	Australia	Durban, South Africa	Kingsmead	1970

Printed

• Benaud, Richie (2005).My Spin on Cricket. London: Hodder & Staughton.ISBN 0-340-83393-9.
• Hayter, Reg (1970).Cricket: Stars of Today. London: Pelham.ISBN 0-7207-0378-6.
• Martin-Jenkins, Christopher (1980).The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers. Adelaide: Rigby.ISBN 0-7270-1262-2.
• Oborne, Peter (2004).Basil D'Oliveira – Cricket and Conspiracy: The Untold Story. London: Little Brown.ISBN 0-316-72572-2.
• Roebuck, Peter (1990).Great Innings. Sydney: Pan.ISBN 0-7329-0359-9.
• Smith, Rick (1996).Great Days in Test Cricket. Sydney: ABC Books.ISBN 0-7333-0536-9.

Website

• "Graeme Pollock – A batsman of rare genius".Cricinfo.
• "They just rocketed to the boundary".Cricinfo.
• "He would probably have broken every record".Cricinfo.
• "South Africa's player of the century".Cricinfo.

• Graeme Pollock atESPNcricinfo

• 1944 births
• Living people
• Cricketers from Durban
• South Africa Test cricketers
• South African cricketers
• Eastern Province cricketers
• International Cavaliers cricketers
• Gauteng cricketers
• South African people of British descent
• South African people of Scottish descent
• Wisden Cricketers of the Year
• Wisden Leading Cricketers in the World
• South African cricket coaches
• Alumni of Grey High School

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use South African English from December 2013
• All Wikipedia articles written in South African English
• Use dmy dates from December 2013