Shaun Pollock

From Free net encyclopedia

Shaun Maclean Pollock (born July 16, 1973 in Port Elizabeth) is a South African cricketer who attended Northwood High School in Durban, more specifically a fast-medium bowler.

He is mainly considered a medium fast bowler but at times he can deliver a faster ball.His main weapons are his unwavering accuracy, reliability and his ability to make the ball swing both ways. He is also in command of a bouncer which rushes on to the batsman. He is also a very useful hard-hitting batsman who boasts more than acceptable (given that he is a #7 or #8 batsman) Test and ODI averages of 32.58 and 24.67 respectively (as of 18 Sep 2004). His fielding, both on the outfield and occasionally in the slip region, makes him all the more potent. When he was captain, no one in international cricket had more on his slate.

Even though rather successful as a captain, 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, especially considering it was hosted in their own country. He goes about his business quietly and perhaps surprisingly has not reached the cricketing status that Australian fast bowler Glenn McGrath or even former South African bowler Allan Donald has, despite being his country's highest wicket taker in both ODIs and Tests.

He is the nephew of legendary South African cricketer Graeme Pollock and the son of former South African fast bowler, Peter Pollock. After a disappointing test series tour of Australia in 2005/2006, there have been worries that Pollock, who has been South Africa's most prized bowler since the loss of Donald, is losing his sting in his bowling; however, at only 32, he still has a good few years left as a test cricketer and will now be looking to become only the tenth player to take 400 test wickets in the return test series between South Africa and Australia in his homeland.

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