Rewind: Number Four In The Order
The first instalment in the Rewind series is a short piece on Graeme Pollock
Welcome to Rewind. I have been thinking of doing a series on past cricketers, matches and series - anything that I find interesting from back in the day. The content will not be in chronological order. So, I figured, why not start with Graeme Pollock, a relatively easy pick because I am a fan? I hope you will enjoy the series
Before South African fans knew it as the Kallis berth, the number four position was known as the Pollock position. Graeme Pollock played 41 Tests and batted at four in 37 of them. In his 27-year first-class career, Pollock never vacated the number four berth.
We missed each other the first couple of times we tried to chat. I left him a text and when he tried to call me, I missed his call. When I tried to call him back, he missed my call. He had gone shopping. We spoke after he returned.
Graeme Pollock didn't ask me what the article was about. He was happy to chat with someone interested in cricket. Pollock is an inveterate lover of the game. He wasn't just happy for the company, he was also happy to be asked to remember things. Remembering thrilled him. You could hear the joy in his voice when he recalled a story or a detail he thought was lost.
"I made my first hundred in 1954," he said. Pollock’s Under-11 team was playing against a Graaff Reinet team. The locals had no room to be angry at their team for the hiding it received, Pollock was putting on a show beyond his age. He took all 10 wickets. But Pollock doesn't dwell on the wickets that much. His efforts as a bowler paled in comparison with his brother, Peter. From a young age, he was in awe of Peter's abilities. Peter also inspired him. “Peter was 2 and a half years older than me. He led the way. I became good because he gave me something to chase,” says Pollock.
It’s his hundred that he enjoys talking about. He scored 115 and Grey did not need much more. Graaff Reinet had not crossed 150. Pollock’s century was brisk. It featured eight sixes, two of which had to be retrieved from a nearby cemetery. This was to be a feature of his game. Pollock was aggressive and attacking. He made the game look easy while he was at it.
He was a little watchful early in his innings, but once he got going he was unstoppable. His philosophy was that there was usually at least one bad ball an over and all he had to do was hit it for four. Pollock’s definition of a bad ball was not the same as the one mere mortals used. Ralph Barker watched Pollock batting for South Africa against England nine years after his 115 against Graaff Reinet. When he came in, the visitors were on 43 for four.
Tom Cartwright had blown away the South African top order on a grassy damp wicket. Pollock, whom Barker described as “untrammelled by notions of what was and was not possible on this wicket,” dispatched balls all over the ground as he raced to a century in 128 minutes. In the 70 minutes after lunch, Pollock scored 70 of the 102 runs scored by South Africa. He ended his knock with 125 off 145. Pollock was 21 at the time.
Hylton Ackerman remarked, “(Pollock) was like the lucky guy you knew who never got flu. Somehow you always felt Pollock was over the ball; it never seemed to be over him.”
News of the century travelled the 150 km back home before Pollock did. People in Graaff Reinet and Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) talked about that 100 for days. He had gone viral. Graeme Pollock went viral before going viral was a thing. In 2023, Pollock has no idea what going viral is.
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Pollock was a prodigious talent. When he wasn't tormenting schoolboy bowlers, he gave adults a good run for their money. Pollock started playing for Old Grey’s first XI at 13. There is a legend that when they were playing, locals often called the clubhouse landline to ask: "Are Grey batting?" "What's the score, please?" If these two were answered positively, the next question always was, "Is Graeme in yet?" Everyone wanted to watch Pollock bat.
Pollock has heard the legend too. But, he doesn’t remember whether it is factual or not. He does remember that he enjoyed playing before the crowd at home. Pollock remembers the cars and numerous families that always greeted him with cheers and applause when they spotted his lanky and loose-limbed form walked out to bat. Everyone enjoyed the sight of Pollock at the crease.
There are two types of prodigies. The comets, because they flame out after a bright and unbelievable start and the evergreens. Pollock was evergreen. He played his last first-class match in 1987 aged 43. He scored 147 and 43 against Australia. The secret to his success? “It doesn’t happen easy. Talent isn’t the only key. You have to work hard. I had the mentality to work hard.”
“I enjoyed cricket a lot,” he carries on. He has loved the game since he was three. His mother was the catalyst, she always had time to throw balls for him. “She always threw to my right hand in the first days.” Each shot he played, especially the cover drive, was an expression of his love for batting. Few things evoke emotion as seeing someone do what they love so well.
Charles Fortune, the broadcaster and co-conspirator of the 1971 walk-off staged by South African players in protest against the apartheid rules, tells a story. He was in commentary with Victor Richardson.
“Came the moment when I glanced his way, indicating it was now his turn to talk, his response was a shaking of the head and a murmured: ‘No, no you carry on.’ So captivated was this veteran stalwart that tiny tears of ecstasy shone in the corners of his eyes. He wanted only to sit back, the more to fully relish that day’s batting,” Fortune wrote for Wisden.
Talking to Pollock felt like I was watching him bat. Once he got his eye in, he developed fluency. I didn't have to ask questions. The memories spurred him on. “Have you watched Barry Richards?” he asked me. He didn’t need me to answer. I answered anyway. Barry Richards is one of the best batters Pollock has ever had the privilege to watch in action. The best he has ever batted with.
Pollock relived his partnership with Barry Richards. South Africa was on 126 for two when Pollock joined Richards in the middle. The pair went at six runs an over for a 103-run partnership which lasted an hour. In 1970, six runs an over was Bazball on steroids. Eddie Barlow later remarked that there was "no price" batting after Richards and Pollock's carnage.
But, Barlow knew what it was like to create a timeless moment with Pollock. In 1963, Barlow and Pollock came together with SA on 70 for 2. The pair raced to their centuries before the close of play. They scored 180 runs in the last hour of play on day two. Again, this was against the Australians. Pollock made 175 and Barlow 201.
“Take it to the bowlers, that was my philosophy. Put the bowlers under pressure and they start churning out crap,” says Pollock.
As a youngster, Pollock was a fan of the Australians. Neil Harvey, in particular. The left-handed Australian scored six electrifying centuries in his first 13 Test innings. He had a full range of shots and a temperament that made it difficult for bowlers to dismiss him.
As a professional, Pollock did to the Australians what Harvey did to Australia’s opposition, he tormented them to no end. Not even injury could stop him from delivering an assault on the Australians. Leading up to his trip to Australia as part of the Gary Sobers-captained Rest of the World XI, Pollock hurt his eye in a club game.
About a month later, not yet fully fit - with a prescription lens for one eye and a glass for the other - Pollock took to the field. The Rest of the World XI was on 73 for one when he strode in. He scored 136. At one point he had to ask his batting partner (Zaheer Abbas) to farm the strike for 15 minutes because the sweat made it difficult for him to see with his good eye. It was a hot day and his handkerchief was so sodden he couldn't use it to wipe his lenses anymore.
Pollock’s voice grew wistful. “I earned very little money playing cricket. For 27 years I could not live off cricket. If you were successful in the sport, you could have a decent business career. I was lucky that there were companies that were willing to work with me.”
Modern players make more money in a six-week period than Pollock made in years. The mediocrities who would give an arm to play a cover drive as good as Pollock's get paid a lot of money too, more money in a six-week period than Pollock had made in a year. But Pollock is not bitter about the money. He once was. Back then, he asked the government for it. It was during the mid-1970s.
"They paid the visiting Australians 10 times more than they paid us," says Pollock. The Minister of Sport was not amused by Pollock’s request. Pollock was supposed to be grateful he was playing for the nation. Not for the first time, Pollock was called a troublemaker. The Minister of Sport had called him and his colleagues the same thing in 1971 for the walk-off. Just like in 1971, Pollock was told to stop meddling and stick to scoring runs. "The National Party didn't care about the sport," Pollock says.
After almost two hours of conversation, Graeme Pollock was sounding tired. “When you call me tomorrow, I will tell you about Garry Sobers. Wonderful man. He is a great friend,” says Pollock before we hang up. His tone said it all, sometimes having memories is better than having a dream.
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Thanks for reading. Until next time… - CS
