Pollock packs the punch

Paul Martin

Proud fathers usually pray that their children do better than they did. And Peter Pollock is not only a very proud father, he prays fervently too.

He 'got religion' when, deserting his job as editor of a leading newspaper, he packed his bags, drove his car to Durban, and started a new life as a lay preacher to the unconverted.

But the fire in his belly, demonstrated in his bowling destructions of Australia and England in particular, has hardly subsided. His own achievements got him 118 wickets in 28 Tests just before South Africa was banned from the world scene 30 years ago.

Today Peter, together with his younger brother, the batting genius Graeme, watched at Kingsmead, in the Indian Ocean city of Durban, as Shaun took his 200th Test wicket, only the second South African to reach that milestone.

Amid the excitement, Shaun remembered to give a clear thumbs-up to his father and his uncle in the grand stand.

The feat had appeared most unlikely, when the South African captain failed to capture any of the first seven Sri Lankan scalps. He'd had no impact earlier on Mahela Jayawardene's near-century (98), nor in breaking the 23-year-old's massive third-wicket partnership of 168 with Kumar Sangakkara (74).

Pollock's success is phenomenal. He's top of the world bowling rankings, and has the added burden of captaincy -- unusual for fast bowlers, and especially difficult in the post-Cronje era.

Keys to Pollock's success are his iron self-belief, a trait inherited from his father, and his ability to bowl from very close to the wicket. Sometimes he is so close he knocks the bowlers-end bails off. This delivery position means he gets a lot of lbw decisions, as the in-ducker can beat the bat, strike the pads in line, and still not be missing leg-stump. It also allows more edges from balls that hit the seam or move away.

Pollock’s stature has been enhanced by the manner he's led from the front after inheriting what seemed to be a poisoned chalice. Typically, he refused to disguise his admiration for the rapidly departed Cronje. Hours after the startling Cronje admission of having been "not totally honest" about his match-fixing denials, Pollock led South Africa to a shock win over Australia in the first of three one-dayers, and also won the series 2-1, taking revenge for the World Cup reverses.

After the first match, Pollock said he dedicated the win to -- his predecessor Cronje, to whom, he said, "We owe so much."

The new captain's ability to get the players focused on the job, avoiding all the backwash from the swirling world-wide scandal, speaks volumes about the man's mettle -- or is it metal?

His leadership has also been tested by the increasing absences of his inspirational but increasingly injury-prone senior parter-in-pace Donald, so that he has had to shepherd the new flock of young bowlers with considerable acumen. Who'll be surprised if Pollock doesn't now go on to surpass Donald's 300-wicket haul, and a lot more besides.

It's all a far cry from when a raw, young lad sat next to me in an almost deserted grand-stand at the far side of Lord's, as we watched South Africa annihilate England on their first tour there since readmission to the Test scene. "Do you play the game?" I had asked the youngster. "Oh yes, I do," he responded with a smile.

Oh, yes, he does, indeed!

Mail Cricket Editor