Shaun Pollock

He is mainly considered a medium fast bowler but at times he can deliver a faster ball.His main weapons are his unwavering accuracy, reliability and his ability to make the ball swing both ways.He is also a very useful hard-hitting batsman.

Full name : Shaun Maclean Pollock
Born : July 16, 1973, Port Elizabeth, Cape Province
Current age : 33 years 106 days
Major teams : South Africa, Africa XI, ICC World XI, KwaZulu-Natal, Natal, Warwickshire
Batting style : Right-hand bat
Bowling style : Right-arm fast-medium
Relations Grandfather - AM Pollock, Great-uncle - R Howden, Father - PM Pollock, Uncle - RG Pollock, Cousin - AG Pollock, Cousin - GA Pollock

Statsguru Test player, ODI player

Considering the type of stuff floating around in his gene pool, it would have been surprising if Shaun Pollock had not been an international cricketer - and a very good one at that. Dad Peter led the South African attack through the 1960s; uncle Graeme was one of the finest, if not the finest, left-hander to play the game. Shaun has bits of both in his makeup, but it is as an immaculate, Hadlee-esque, line and length seamer that he has established himself. At the start of his first-class career, though, he was both slippery and aggressive and his Natal team-mates delighted in totting up the number of batsmen he pinned match after match. He was brought into the South African Test side against Michael Atherton's England tourists in 1995/96 and although his father was the convener of selectors, there was never a hint of nepotism and the younger Pollock took quickly to the higher level.

In 1996 he had a spell with Warwickshire cut short because of an ankle injury and missed the tour to India at the end of that year. But he soon returned to resume his new-ball partnership with Allan Donald and this pairing was the springboard of much of South Africa's success during the latter half of the 1990s. Indeed, it is possible to argue that the emergence of Pollock inspired Donald to greater heights as the latter found himself with a partner who both complemented and challenged him. Perhaps the straightest bowler in world cricket, Pollock is able to move the ball both ways at a lively pace. He also possesses stamina and courage in abundance as in proved in Adelaide in 1998 when he toiled on hour after hour in blazing heat to take 7 for 87 in 41 overs on a perfect batting pitch.

If there is a criticism of Pollock, it is that he has underperformed with the bat, but most Test teams would be perfectly happy to have him in their side if he never scored a run. Pollock was thrust into the captaincy in April when Hansie Cronje was drummed out of the game, and he faced the biggest challenge of his career - to lift a shocked and demoralised South African side. However, after a solid start to his captaincy, he lost some credibility after a 3-0 drubbing in Australia in 2001-02, and was later blamed for South Africa's disastrous World Cup in which they failed to qualify for the Super Sixes. As a result, Pollock immediately lost the captaincy and was replaced by Graeme Smith. Though his nagging brilliance around offstump remains, his pace and ability to take wickets at the top of the order has dipped. Missed the first Test against Australia at home recently with a back injury and was relegated from opener to first-change by the third. Four wickets in two Tests, with a new run-up and on pitches tailormade for his style, showed that he has slowed. But with 100 Tests under his belt, Pollock remains an integral part of the side. He missed the first Test against Sri Lanka due to the birth of his second daughter, returned for the second and was a pale shade of his former self. He managed just one wicket, and it was a telling sign of Pollock's decline to see him resort to offspin after being tonked over his head for six by Sanath Jayasuriya. Was included in South Africa's 14-man squad for the Champions Trophy in India.