Wisden overview
A top-class opening bowler, a batsman capable of scoring Test centuries and a useful slip fielder, Shaun Pollock is the most complete cricketer since Imran Khan. Loose-limbed and apparently easy-going, Pollock isn't always what he seems. He has a sharp mind, with an impish, laconic streak, and had the captaincy thrust upon him under the swirling cloud of match-fixing. But the dark legacy left behind by Hansie Cronje was too big a burden to bear, and Pollock blamed that as a factor when he was sacked after South Africa's disastrous World Cup of 2003. His elevation to the captaincy seemed to have sapped some of his pace - Bob Woolmer suggested that he wasn't as svelte as he was - but he continued collecting his wickets at an average of 21 and finally fulfilled the promise of his elegant, upright batting with two blazing hundreds, both made from No.9. His bowling is a silky blur, delivered stump-to-stump, which gives batsmen nothing except doubts as to which way the ball will seam. His tactical acumen received some harsh notices during the whitewash in Australia in 2001-02, but however his future pans out, he is sure to be rated as one of the greatest of all South African cricketers. Among his few rivals for that title is his uncle Graeme. Neil Manthorp

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd