Graeme Pollock Essays An Epic On One Leg

Left-hand batsmen in cricket essays grace and romance with amazing authority than the right handed batsmen. Cricket since the start of the Test cricket in 1876-77 has been blessed with left-hand artists. Graeme Pollock was one of those elegant left-hand artists who looked elegant just sauntering two paces between deliveries and idly patting down the pitch.

In 1967 the Australian side under Bobby Simpson was touring South Africa and the Kangaroos went into the second Test at Cape Town with one down. But at Cape Town the Aussies came back strongly to maul the Proteas. It had been an easy win for the Aussies to level the series but this Test match had been significant due to one man’s courage and majestic art, Graeme Pollock.

Australia made a massive 542 with hundreds from Simpson and Stackpole with Edie Barlow for the first time picking up five wickets in Tests. In reply the Proteas finished the second day reeling with 56-3. Graeme Pollock being not out on 28.

On the third day it was warm and sunny at New Lands. The extreme intensity of colour that Cape Town specializes in on a summer’s day was heightened by the excitement of the moment. Hardly any spectator had noticed the deep blue of the sky over Table Mountain and the contrasting green of the outfield.

Graeme Pollock came out to bat at 11 am.

HR Lance went back quickly to give the stage to Dennis Lindsay; the hero of the first Test. Renneberg bowled a bouncer to Lindsay. He hooked it caught the shoulder of the bat, went into his forehead and rebounded three quarters of the way back down the pitch for Renneberg to stretch to take the catch. Lindsay regained consciousness and found that he was on his way to the pavilion with South Africa on 85-5.

Then Pollock took over.

Pollock had come out to bat in his normal number four slot but was clearly severely handicapped on the second day and relied on limited movement while scoring his 28. Pollock had strained a thigh muscle amidst a casualty list that included his brother Peter Pollock and Richard Dumbrill; South Africa had fielded three subs for most of the Australian innings.

But true champions pick themselves up when the going gets tough.

After the dismissal of Lindsay the advent of Peter Van der Merwe sent Pollock in a rampage. A left-handers front-foot is the right leg and that being handicapped, Pollock shifted his balance on the back-foot and played his traditional cover drives relying on the back-foot throughout his master piece. Each time the ball caressed the cover fields, Pollock’s right toe was seen airborne as no balance being shifted there.

In the next four hours, partnered by Peter Van der Merwe, the young maestro reached his fifth Test hundred in three and a quarter hours, after facing only 139 balls. But Pollock’s carnage was unstoppable. He continued to display astonishing courage and determination to give the South African total enough respectability.

There had been cuts, pulls and drives of highest quality which one can think of. The wickets kept falling at the other end but the willow of Graeme Pollock was essaying the innings of a life time. When he finally nicked a wide one to Taber Pollock had made an eye catching 209 out of a 331 with thirty 4s. The innings built to crescendo with two Pollocks establishing a 9^th wicket record of 85 in 67 minutes.

South Africa had lost the Test. But by no means can this classical knock be undermined. Though Pollock’s actual grace was being missing due to an injury but those fluent drives through the covers and square of the wicket on the back-foot describes the talent and courage of this man.

In his short career Pollock did score some scintillating hundreds but this hundred is one of the best in true sense of terms. Perhaps one of the finest knock achieved under adversity.

Apartheid had cut short his career but had he been around then surely the Gods would have showered flowers from the heaven each time he would walked out to bat.

Thank You

Faisal Caesar