Friday, November 2, 2001

If India's batsmen are to succeed in South Africa, they will have to tame Shaun Pollock. Angus Fraser runs an expert eye over a master of the seam-bowling art

Character
Like a lot of fast bowlers Shaun Pollock is quiet, modest, gentle and charming off the field. He gets rid of his anger on it. In the middle, despite being very religious, he is as aggressive and competitive as they come. Unlike some though, he doesn't tread over that line which brings the game into disrepute. You can tell by the way he goes about his business that he is a very proud and ambitious man.

Style of bowling
Like the vast majority of great bowlers (and he will go down as great, no doubt about it) Shaun bowls very few bad deliveries. He bowls close to the stumps and is constantly at the batsman, and ready to expose any flaw in either technique or temperament. He has a lovely high simple action where very little can go wrong – and if something does it can be easily corrected. Being tall (6ft 3ins) and having a high action allows him to get kick and bounce out of the pitch – and it is bounce that unsettles batsmen most. He can also move the ball both ways either in the air or off the seam if conditions are right. Basically he has everything required for a great bowler.

Best ball
His best ball is the awayswinger. Bowling the immaculate line that he does, he is constantly making the batsman play so any movement away keeps the slips busy.

Strengths
It is not just accuracy and movement that make him the bowler that he is it – he also has heart and fitness. When conditions aren't conducive he keeps running in and makes the batsman work for every run. Even when he isn't taking wickets, which isn't very often with a strike rate of a wicket every 55 balls, he gives the side control. He only goes for 2.26 runs per over.

Weaknesses
Since his debut against England in 1995-96 he has bowled a lot of overs (over 3000 in all internationals), and this is taking its toll. He is only 28 but is not as quick as he used to be and therefore can't force it as he once could. This means on dead or flat tracks he is dependent on someone else (like Nantie Hayward) to shake the batsmen up. At his most dangerous ...
I doubt if there is a better bowler in the world (now Curtly Ambrose has retired) on a wicket that is offering some seam movement. This was the case in the one-day final against England at the Wanderers, Johannesburg in February 2000. He was unplayable and figures of 5 for 20 in nine overs did not flatter him. I was there and it was magnificent to watch. Secret weapon
Early in his career the bouncer was his surprise ball. It was appreciably quicker than the rest of his deliveries, always straight and used to hit a lot of batsmen on the head. However, he doesn't bowl it as often as he used to. He leaves it to the younger men to rough the opposition up.

Last word
Pollock and Allan Donald have given South Africa an opening attack to envy. Not only are they both outstanding bowlers but they complement each other superbly. Donald is all pace and aggression, getting life out of the most benign surfaces; Pollock is the calming influence at the other end. He keeps the wheels on should Donald get it wrong, which he does on occasion. It will be interesting to see, with Donald out of the equation for the moment, whether Pollock will remain as effective. I think he will for a few more years yet.

Angus Fraser is captain of Middlesex CCC and a columnist for Wisden Cricket Monthly.

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