excerpts from Harsha Online October 11 2001
Shaun Pollock is South Africa’s pride. He is rated as among the world’s
best bowlers. Coupled with his batting exploits, he is one of the best all
rounders today. He also has the enviable task of leading his country in
international cricket. Harsha Bhogle hosted him on his show on October 11.
On pressure of having to live upto the Pollock surname: A lot of
people ask me about the positives and negatives of being a Pollock. There are
obviously more positives to it than negatives. People always notice you. I think
there was a lot of pressure on Graeme’s son, Anthony. My dad had given up in
1973 and not too many people around remember him. Graeme was still playing when
I was growing up. So there was more pressure on his son. There were definitely
some expectations but once you have represented your country, you can put all
that behind you.
On Peter Pollock’s role as a selector: He was the Convenor of
Selectors when I was first chosen. So it was a bit of a joke that went around.
He had the biggest impact on my career since he chose me for the national side.
There were jokes about that and jokes like the only reason you are here is your
father. He was harder on me actually, and made sure I was ready to play for
South Africa. It was nice to have my father to have played international
cricket. He probably helped towards the latter part of my career, from age 18
onwards. It’s the age when you can start understanding the finer details of
cricket. It was great to have him there, full of support and ideas.
On if his childhood was privileged: I think we were very lucky growing
up. The school system in South Africa had sports organised every weekend. We had
good facilities to play on. Nowhere, not even in England, do you have so much
school cricket. You have to go through the club circuit. We were really lucky in
South Africa and I am really grateful to all the teachers and organisers who
made all those facilities available to us.
On why he chose cricket over hockey: I was never as good with hockey as I
was with cricket. And as a human being you really prefer to do the things you
are good at. There was definitely a motivation to play cricket because I came
from a family so well known for its cricket expertise. Seeing Graeme still
playing, seeing a member of the family out there, it sort of motivated me to do
the same.
On if his bowling has lost some pace: When I first came into the scene,
playing for Natal in 1995, I used to be quite a tearaway fast bowler. I used to
hit a few boys on the head on a bouncy wicket. A lot of that pace has gone. I
had an ankle operation. That did some damage to my bowling arm. Now I try to be
more balanced and effective all over the world.
On if he considers himself better as batsman or bowler: I definitely bowl
better than I bat, sort of a bowling all-rounder. I don’t think I can hold my
own in a side as a batsman.
On the importance of religion in his life: I have tried to keep religion
in every part of my life. It gives a good balance to your life and it is
definitely a relationship between you and the Lord. It is something that keeps
you in perspective and focused. You can get a little carried away and think you
area little too special because of all the attention the cricket field. It helps
you to stay down to earth and to realise where your talents come from. If you
have received your talents from the Lord then you should use them well.
On if the isolation helped South Africa become stronger: There was always
very good cricket being played in the domestic setup. We did lose out on touring
places like India. I think now that that now that we have played all over the
world, we really have a balanced and all rounded team. We did lose out, but I
feel the world lost out too and did not get to see some quality cricket.