Shaun Pollock is a former South African cricketer born on July 16, 1973 in Port Elizabeth, Cape Province. He graduated from the University of Natal in Commerce. He traces his ancestry to Scotland through his paternal grandfather, Andrew Pollock, who played cricket for Orange Free State. He is the son of Peter Pollock, a former South African fast-bowler and the nephew of South African cricketing great Graeme Pollock. Shaun Pollock is married to Patricia Lauderdale and has two daughters, Jemma and Georgia.
An all-rounder, who bowls right-arm fast-medium and bats right-handed, Shaun Pollock is well known in world cricket for delivering the straightest balls. He was the captain of the South African cricket team from 2000 to 2003. On January 11, 2008, during the Test series against the West Indies he announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket, effective on February 3, 2008.
Shaun Pollock made his Test debut against England at Centurion on November 16, 1995. He has played 108 Test matches and has taken 421 wickets in his Test career. Currently, Shaun Pollock stands in the tenth position on the all time wicket-takers list as well as the all-time bowler ratings of the LG International Cricket Council (ICC) Ratings. He is one amongst six players to have scored over 3000 runs and scalped over 300 wickets in Test matches. He was also chosen as the Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2003. He has also hit 2 centuries and 16 half-centuries at an average of 32.31.
Shaun Pollock made his debut in the One Day International (ODI) arena on January 9, 1996 at Cape Town against England. He has played 303 ODIs Shaun Pollock and claimed 393 wickets at an economy rate of 3.67 with a personal best bowling figure of 6 for 35. He holds the third highest rating ever on the LG ICC rating for bowling. In his ODI career, he has also hit one century and fourteen fifties at an average of 26.45. In June 2007, coming in as the No. 7 batsman, he blasted 130 runs, the second highest score from that position.
Shaun Pollock made his international Twenty20 (T20I) debut on October 21, 2005 against New Zealand in Johannesburg. So far he has participated in twelve T20I matches and has collected 86 runs and has 21 dismissals in T20s. His strike rate in T20I is at 122.85 and his highest batting score of 36* came against the West Indies.
Shaun Pollock has represented World XI, Africa XI, Dolphins and Warwickshire at various levels. On his first appearance for Warwickshire, he took four wickets in four balls against Leicestershire at Birmingham in 1996. He has played 186 First-class matches and has taken 667 wickets and scored 7,021 runs. His List A matches add up to 435 where he has picked 573 wickets and made 5,494 runs.
Shaun Pollock, who has represented Durham Dynamos in the 2008 Twenty20 Cup in England, was signed by Mumbai Indians for the 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL). During the IPL tournament, Shaun Pollock won the Man of the Match award twice, first against Delhi Daredevils on May 4, 2008 for his all-round performance. The second one came for picking up 3 wickets for 12 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 16, 2008. He played 13 matches in IPL he collected 11 wickets and made 147 runs at a strike rate of 132.43.
Shaun Pollock was also engaged as a commentator on Sky Sports as well as on BBC for the Test Match Special during the Test series between England and South Africa in 2008.
