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Full name Shaun Maclean Pollock
Born July 16, 1973, Port Elizabeth, Cape Province
Current age 34 years 305 days
Major teams South Africa, Africa XI, Dolphins, Durham, ICC World XI, KwaZulu-Natal, Mumbai Indians, Natal, Warwickshire
Batting style Right-hand bat
Bowling style Right-arm fast-medium
Relations Grandfather - AM Pollock, Great-uncle - R Howden, Father - PM Pollock, Uncle - RG Pollock, Cousin - AG Pollock, Cousin - GA Pollock

Batting and fielding averages
	Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	BF	SR	100	50	4s	6s	Ct
Tests	108	156	39	3781	111	32.31	7198	52.52	2	16	412	35	72
ODIs	303	205	72	3519	130	26.45	4059	86.69	1	14	248	58	108
T20Is	12	9	2	86	36*	12.28	70	122.85	0	0	4	4	2
First-class	186	267	55	7023	150*	33.12			6	35			132
List A	434	296	91	5476	134*	26.71			3	24			153
Twenty20	30	23	4	462	59	24.31	316	146.20	0	1	38	24	5

Bowling averages
	Mat	Inns	Balls	Runs	Wkts	BBI	BBM	Ave	Econ	SR	4w	5w	10
Tests	108	202	24353	9733	421	7/87	10/147	23.11	2.39	57.8	23	16	1
ODIs	303	297	15712	9631	393	6/35	6/35	24.50	3.67	39.9	12	5	0
T20Is	12	11	243	309	15	3/28	3/28	20.60	7.62	16.2	0	0	0
First-class	186		39067	15508	667	7/33		23.25	2.38	58.5		22	2
List A	434		21528	13090	573	6/21	6/21	22.84	3.64	37.5	18	7	0
Twenty20	30	27	597	678	28	3/28	3/28	24.21	6.81	21.3	0	0	0

Career statistics
Test debut	South Africa v England at Centurion, Nov 16-20, 1995 scorecard
Last Test	South Africa v West Indies at Durban, Jan 10-12, 2008 scorecard
Test statistics
ODI debut	South Africa v England at Cape Town, Jan 9, 1996 scorecard
Last ODI	South Africa v West Indies at Johannesburg, Feb 3, 2008 scorecard
ODI statistics
T20I debut	South Africa v New Zealand at Johannesburg, Oct 21, 2005 scorecard
Last T20I	South Africa v West Indies at Johannesburg, Jan 18, 2008 scorecard
T20I statistics
First-class debut	1991/92
Last First-class	South Africa v West Indies at Durban, Jan 10-12, 2008 scorecard
List A debut	1992/93
Last List A	South Africa v West Indies at Johannesburg, Feb 3, 2008 scorecard
Twenty20 debut	Western Province Boland v Dolphins at Cape Town, Apr 7, 2004 scorecard
Last Twenty20	Mumbai Indians v Chennai Super Kings at Mumbai, May 14, 2008 scorecard

Profile

Considering the type of stuff floating around in his gene pool, it would have been surprising if Shaun Pollock had not been an international cricketer - and a very good one at that. Dad Peter led the South African attack through the 1960s; uncle Graeme was one of the finest, if not the finest, left-hander to play the game. Shaun has bits of both in his makeup, but it is as an immaculate, Hadlee-esque, line and length seamer that he has established himself. At the start of his first-class career, though, he was both slippery and aggressive and his Natal team-mates delighted in totting up the number of batsmen he pinned match after match. He was brought into the South African Test side against Michael Atherton's England tourists in 1995/96 and although his father was the convener of selectors, there was never a hint of nepotism and the younger Pollock took quickly to the higher level.

In 1996 he had a spell with Warwickshire cut short because of an ankle injury and missed the tour to India at the end of that year. But he soon returned to resume his new-ball partnership with Allan Donald and this pairing was the springboard of much of South Africa's success during the latter half of the 1990s. Indeed, it is possible to argue that the emergence of Pollock inspired Donald to greater heights as the latter found himself with a partner who both complemented and challenged him. Perhaps the straightest bowler in world cricket, Pollock is able to move the ball both ways at a lively pace. He also possesses stamina and courage in abundance as in proved in Adelaide in 1998 when he toiled on hour after hour in blazing heat to take 7 for 87 in 41 overs on a perfect batting pitch.

If there is a criticism of Pollock, it is that he has underperformed with the bat, but most Test teams would be perfectly happy to have him in their side if he never scored a run. Pollock was thrust into the captaincy in April 2000 when Hansie Cronje was drummed out of the game, and he faced the biggest challenge of his career - to lift a shocked and demoralised South African side. However, after a solid start to his captaincy, he lost some credibility after a 3-0 drubbing in Australia in 2001-02, and was later blamed for South Africa's disastrous World Cup in which they failed to qualify for the Super Sixes. As a result, Pollock immediately lost the captaincy and was replaced by Graeme Smith. Though his nagging brilliance around offstump remains, his pace and ability to take wickets at the top of the order has dipped.

Pollock missed the first Test against Australia at home in early 2006 with a back injury and was relegated from opener to first-change by the third. Four wickets in two Tests, with a new run-up and on pitches tailormade for his style, showed that he has slowed. But with 100 Tests under his belt, Pollock remains an integral part of the side. He missed the first Test against Sri Lanka due to the birth of his second daughter, returned for the second and was a pale shade of his former self. He managed just one wicket, and it was a telling sign of what appeared to be Pollock's decline to see him resort to offspin after being tonked over his head for six by Sanath Jayasuriya. All that was reversed in the Champions Trophy in India, where he showed great form, and against India and Pakistan at home at the end of 2006 and in the new year. Man of the Series in both the ODIs and Tests against India, Pollock was highly impressive with the new ball and chipped in with useful scores down the order. It was fitting that he became the first South African to take 400 Test wickets. Pollock continued his fine form against the touring Pakistanis next, despite being surprisingly rested for the final Test. Thrifty with the ball and useful with bat he offered precious control and breathing space for his captain. In the ODI series, he was the highest wicket-taker on either side and his 5 for 23 in the final game crushed a weary Pakistan. For the second consecutive one-day series in a row, Pollock was adjudged Man of the Series. It was decent form to carry into his fourth World Cup, but his lack of pace was exposed on the small Caribbean grounds, especially by Matthew Hayden, although his miserly spell against England was key in South Africa securing a semi-final berth. He lost his place in the Test line-up late in 2007 but returned against West Indies, on his home ground in Durban, for what turned out to be his final Test. He announced his retirement midway through the match, the following one-day series being his last international commitments.
Peter Robinson/Jamie Alter January 2008