from supercricket.co.za by Neil Manthorp May 2002 (thanks Jenny)
Ever since Allan Donald arrived in the English city of Birmingham to
start his 'international' career almost 16 years ago, the county of Warwickshire
has maintained and strengthened its ties with South Africa.
Those ties, of course, were already set in pretty firm foundations with the
appearances of Anton 'Yogi' Ferreira and Brian McMillan as overseas pros back in
the earlier 80s.
Now Shaun Pollock is back for his second stint as the South African professional
and the good news is he appears to be regaining some of the form that proved so
elusive at the end of the international season here in SA.
An all round match-winning performance on Monday included an innings of 64 and a
return of 4-12 from nine overs in a crucial victory over Glamorgan that earned
'The Bears' a place in the quarter finals of the B&H Cup.
"It took him three games to remember what the 'English length' was,"
an informed observer with very close links to the county told me.
"He was bowling a yard too short - and he looked completely innocuous,
which was a worry. But since he has started bowling that much fuller he has been
getting edges rather than going past them by six inches."
Although Pollock will be paid over a million rand for his season in England he
made it clear to his closest confidants that his main reason for travelling was
to rediscover the away swinger that used to be his weapon of choice and to
become re-acquainted with every aspect of his bowling.
From almost any other player in South Africa, that might have sounded like a
ruse. But Pollock is different, although there remains one area of concern for
SA fans.
"The committee watched his first couple of matches with great interest and
they were a little taken aback by the amount of pace he's lost since his first
stint at the club," my old friend told me. "He's pretty much a medium
pacer these days, isn't he?"
In other news from that city: Allan Donald is keeping his hand in after
answering an emergency call from Birmingham League club Knowle and Dorridge who
lost their contracted South African professional shortly before the start of the
season.
Opener Graeme Smith withdrew on medical advice just a couple of weeks before
their first match and Donald has stepped into the breach in order to keep in
trim and practice before endeavouring to fulfill his final ambition on the field
- to play in the 2003 World Cup.
"Graeme basically has wonky knees," admitted national physiotherapist
Craig Smith, "so I recommended that he withdraw from his contract with the
league club."
"Allan looked good in his first match," confirmed my friend. "He
took 3-35 in 13 overs but his team still lost."
Finally, although no one is admitting it at Warwickshire, an agreement between
the UCB and the county's cricket committee has apparently limited the national
skipper to 30 overs per four-day championship match.
It may be a coincidence, but Polly bowled 29.5 overs in the last championship
match Warwickshire played. He's also not playing in the Sunday league.