Peter Pollock Cricketer
Peter Maclean Pollock, has played a continuing role in the South Africa cricket team as a player, selector, and father of a future captain. He was voted a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1966. He was primarily a fast bowler, but was also a useful late-order batsman. Peter's father Andrew Pollock played a small number of undistinguished first-class games for the Orange Free State side, but the rest of the family have found greater fame in the cricketing world. His brother, Graeme Pollock, an acclaimed left hand batsman, was a regular player for the South Africa cricket team at the same time as Peter, and two of his nephews also played first-class cricket, both for Transvaal and Leicestershire amongst other sides. Perhaps most famous of all is his son, Shaun Pollock, who played 108 Tests and over 300 ODIs for South Africa and is widely regarded as one of the finest all-rounders to ever play the game. On his debut, he took six wickets in the second innings against New Zealand in Durban in 1961. Perhaps the highlight of his career came alongside that of his brother when they were both playing in a Test match at Trent Bridge in 1965. Peter took ten wickets in the match with innings figures of 5 for 53 and 5 for 34, while his brother Graeme, batting, made 125 and 59. South Africa won the match, and with it the three-Test series. Peter was convenor of selectors for South Africa in the 1990s, immediately following their re-admittance into world cricket after the collapse of apartheid. He is often credited with establishing the work ethic and style of play (based on tight fast bowling) that led to the team rapidly rising to become one of the top two teams in the game. Later, he led calls for the famous fast bowler Allan Donald to retire from the game when that player became very injury-prone due to his age. Outside cricket, Peter is a trained journalist and a lay preacher.