Shaun Pollock

Infobox cricketer biography
playername = Shaun Pollock


country = South Africa
fullname = Shaun Maclean Pollock
nickname =
living = true
dayofbirth = 16
monthofbirth = 7
yearofbirth = 1973
placeofbirth = Port Elizabeth, Cape Province
countryofbirth = South Africa
heightft =
heightinch =
batting = Right-handed
bowling = Right arm fast-medium
role = Bowling all-rounder

international = true
testdebutdate = 16 November
testdebutyear = 1995
testdebutagainst = England
testc

lasttestdate = 10 January
lasttestyear = 2008
lasttestagainst = West Indies
odidebutdate = 9 January
odidebutyear = 1996
odidebutagainst = England
odic

lastodidate = 3 February
lastodiyear = 2008
lastodiagainst = West Indies
odishirt = 7

club1 = KwaZulu-Natal
year1 = 1992/93-2003/04
clubnumber1 =
club2 = Warwickshire
year2 = 1996-2002
clubnumber2 =
club3 = Dolphins
year3 = 2004/05
clubnumber3 =
club4 = IPL
year4 = 2008
clubnumber4 =
club5 = Durham
year5 = 2008
clubnumber5 =

deliveries = balls
columns = 4
column1 = Tests
matches1 = 108
runs1 = 3,781
bat avg1 = 32.31
100s/50s1 = 2/16
top score1 = 111
deliveries1 = 24,353
wickets1 = 421
bowl avg1 = 23.11
fivefor1 = 16
tenfor1 = 1
best bowling1 = 7/87
catches/stumpings1 = 72/–
column2 = ODIs
matches2 = 303
runs2 = 3,519
bat avg2 = 26.45
100s/50s2 = 1/14
top score2 = 130
deliveries2 = 15,712
wickets2 = 393
bowl avg2 = 24.50
fivefor2 = 5
tenfor2 = n/a
best bowling2 = 6/35
catches/stumpings2 = 108/–
column3 = FC
matches3 = 186
runs3 = 7,021
bat avg3 = 33.11
100s/50s3 = 6/35
top score3 = 150*
deliveries3 = 39,067
wickets3 = 667
bowl avg3 = 23.25
fivefor3 = 22
tenfor3 = 2
best bowling3 = 7/33
catches/stumpings3 = 132/–
column4 = LA
matches4 = 435
runs4 = 5,494
bat avg4 = 26.66
100s/50s4 = 3/24
top score4 = 134*
deliveries4 = 21,588
wickets4 = 573
bowl avg4 = 22.93
fivefor4 = 7
tenfor4 = n/a
best bowling4 = 6/21
catches/stumpings4 = 153/–

date = 20 September
year = 2008
source = http://www.cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/2/2227/2227.html CricketArchive

Shaun Maclean Pollock (born July 16, 1973 in Port Elizabeth) is a retired South African cricketer who is considered a bowling all-rounder. 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 also chosen as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2003. Having both taken over 400 test wickets and scored over 3,700 test runs in his 107 test matches as of 2007, [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/other_international/7018166.stm "Pollock dropped by South Africa"] BBC News retrieved September 29 2007] On January 11 2008 he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket after his 303rd One Day International on February 3. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/other_international/south_africa/7183738.stm "Pollock announces his retirement"] BBC News retrieved January 11 2008]

Career

Shaun Pollock was a medium-fast seam bowler, with the ability to deliver a quicker ball with accuracy and swing. He is considered to be one of the straightest bowlers in world cricket.Fact|date=September 2007

The nephew of legendary South African cricketer Graeme Pollock and the son of former South African fast bowler Peter Pollock, expectations from him were high since he started playing for South Africa in 1995/96, in their home series against England.Fact|date=September 2007 He cemented his place in the team with some excellent performances and found a steady bowling partner in Allan Donald. They were to be the mainstay of South African bowling till Donald's retirement. Fact|date=April 2008

Pollock was also a very useful hard-hitting batsman who normally bats at 7 or 8, with a Test average of over 30 and ODI average above 25. He is also an athletic fielder.Fact|date=September 2007 After Hansie Cronje was banned from cricket for life, Pollock took over the captaincy in April 2000. He had the task of boosting the morale of the team in the aftermath of the match-fixing scandal. After getting off to a good start as a captain he faced some disappointing series losses in his tenure. He was eventually removed from the captaincy after South Africa's poor performance in the 2003 Cricket World Cup, a tournament that they were amongst the favourites to win as the host nation. Current captain Graeme Smith took over the job.

Although no longer captain, he retained his place in the team. Of late, especially after a disappointing Test series tour of Australia in 2005/2006, he has been facing criticism for losing his wicket taking ability. He has the lowest (best) economy rate of any bowler to have taken 300 ODI wickets, [cite web | url=http://www1.cricinfo.com/db/STATS/ODIS/BOWLING/ODI_BOWL_MOST_WKTS.html | title=Records - One-Day Internationals - Most wickets in career | publisher=Cricinfo | accessdate=2007-09-01] and he is also the first South African and only the tenth player to take 400 Test wickets. However, minor injuries have hampered his most recent performances,Fact|date=September 2007 and in September 2007 he was dropped from the South African test side for the first time in his career. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/other_international/7018166.stm "Pollock dropped by South Africa"] BBC News retrieved September 29 2007] Pollock was later readded to the test series against the West Indies, whereupon he announced his retirement, effective on February 3 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." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cricket/7185255.stm "Smith salutes legendary Pollock"] BBC News retrieved January 12 2007] Shaun Pollock recently represented Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, and Durham Dynamos in the 2008 Twenty20 Cup in England.

Shaun Pollock is currently commentating on Sky Sports and Test Match Special on the BBC during the 2008 England vs South Africa Test Series.

Career highlights

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. [ [http://www.cricket.co.za/default.asp?AID=214711 Pollock is SA's player of the year (2007)] ]

He is currently tenth on the all time Test Wicket takers list, and was named joint 10th in the all time best ever bowler ratings in the LG ICC Ratings. [ [http://www.lgiccrankings.com/test/bowling/all-time-ranking.php LG ICC Best-Ever Test Bowling Ratings] ] He has taken over 400 wickets and is one of only six players to have scored 3000 runs and taken 300 wickets in Test matches.

He has also performed impressively in One Day International, consistently from 1997 to 2001. The year 2002 saw a little performance dip after which he performed excellently up until 2005 after which there was a second dip.Fact|date=September 2007 Many saidWho|date=September 2007 that Pollock would not recover from this but he did, in fact he reached his career-best LG ICC Bowling Rating of 920 in February 2006 and it despite slight variation it remains at 920.Fact|date=September 2007 He now holds the 3rd highest rating ever, 3 points behind the New Zealand bowler Richard Hadlee.

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. [cite web | url=http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/content/records/284242.html | title=Records - One-Day Internationals - Most runs in an innings (by batting position) | publisher=Cricinfo | accessdate=2007-09-01] The record would however not last long, MS Dhoni bettered it later in the series.

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

Rankings

Shaun Pollock's current ranking and (rating) in the Cricket ratings as determined by the International Cricket Council are as follows:

*Test Batting 54th (460) - career best 37th (565).
*Test Bowling 8th (702) - career best 1st (909).
*Test All-rounders 3rd (322) - career best 1st (489).
*ODI Batting 37th (557) - career best 34th (589).
*ODI Bowling 1st (863) - career best 1st (920)
*ODI All-rounders 1st (480) - career best 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. [cite web | url=http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/46911.html | title=Players and Officials - Andrew Pollock | publisher=Cricinfo | accessdate=2007-09-01] 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. [cite web | url=http://www.news24.com/News24/Sport/Cricket/0,6119,2-9-839_1948048,00.html | title=Pollock in doubt for Sri Lanka | publisher=News24.com | date=2006-06-08 | accessdate=2007-09-01] He is a teetotaller. [cite web | url=http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/current/story/328723.html | title=Cricinfo Quote Unquote - Gibbs reveals the failure to get teetotaler Pollock to break the habit | publisher=Cricinfo.com | date=2008-02-10 | accessdate=2008-02-10] Pollock is a graduate of the University of Natal with a bachelor's degree in commerce. [http://www.yehhaicricket.com/pinforamation/spollockpersonalinfo.html]

References

External links

* [http://www.shaunpollock.co.za Official Site]
* [http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/46774.html Cricinfo: Player profile]
* [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/2/2227/2227.html CricketArchive: Player profile]
* [http://www.shaunpollock.com Official Site - working]

Persondata
NAME= Pollock, Shaun Maclean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Pollock, Shaun
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Cricketer
DATE OF BIRTH= 16 July 1973
PLACE OF BIRTH= Port Elizabeth, Cape Province, South Africa
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=