GODS of cricket - Graeme Pollock

There are cricketers who are born to play, to entertain, as if the game was made at the first place made to suit them rather than them suiting their play according the rules and needs of cricket. Graeme Pollock, uncle of Shaun Pollock, was one such man. Whether he played for the Eastern Province, Transvaal or his country South Africa, he displayed his same calm, reassuring and majestic magical batsmanship that compelled fans to come to stadiums to watch an enigma in action. The stadiums in South Africa would invariably fill up once he came in to bat, and it would be empty by the time he had done his job and departed.

Robert Graeme Pollock

With a batting average of 60.97 in international cricket, he is second behind Don Bradman as the most prolific scorer in cricket. Yet, his greatness does not remain limited to the 23 Tests that he played for South Africa in an international career that spanned just seven years till 1970 and that came to an end as the nation was banned from international cricket due to their official policy of apartheid. He played first class cricket in his country (and surprisingly nowhere else) till 1986-87 and produced countless moments of joy that was again one of the phenomena that made cricketing fraternity wish his career had extended longer.

But in whatever little he played with respect to foreign opponents, then only England and Australia and no weaker team against which modern batsman inflate their scoring and averages, Don Bradman did not fail to notice the genius in the man and remarked that Pollock, along with West Indian all-rounder Garry Sobers, was the finest left-handed batsman he had ever seen.

Graeme Pollock was one of those batsman who were eternally graceful with their style and technique of batting. The timing in his shots, the ease with which he came on top of the ball, be it any bowler, and the the relaxed and equally perfect manner of his dissecting deliveries and the bowler, was his signature. He was at home at the crease, and no situation or bowler or delivery would lead him out of his comfort zone.

Pollock was voted the South African cricketer of the century in 1999; he was inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame in 2009, and what if his career had not been cut short abruptly?

Pollock, though, never ventured out of South Africa to gain more international fame and make more money, choosing to keep playing first class cricket there itself. He dedicated himself to serving his country’s cricket soon after, presently being a national selector. His surname is among the most eminent ones in cricketing circles of South Africa, their family having quite a number of professional cricketers, and even though his nephew Shaun Pollock has spent so much more time playing international cricket, making a name for himself as one of cricket’s greatest bowlers, Graeme Pollock is still an awe-inspiring name among fans.

The number four slot in his time was his patent, and his alone. His 274 was a national record for a long time. Even after serving a small and low-profile career in comparison to other greats of the game, he remains one cricket’s biggest – a GOD of cricket.