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Polly: 2 matches, 2 records?
29/01/2008 22:11 - (SA)
Christo Buchner , Beeld
Durban - Shaun Pollock needs only nine wickets to reach the 400-mark in one-day internationals. He also needs only one catch to tie Jonty Rhodes's record for the number of catches taken in this form of cricket.
But time is running out. Pollock will sign off as an international player at the end of this week.
He will play his last match at his home ground, Kingsmead, when South Africa take on the West Indies in the fourth of five ODIs here on Friday.
This is also the ground where Pollock's father, Peter, made his international debut in 1961.
Then, at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Sunday, Pollock will play for South Africa one more time, on the same ground where his uncle Graeme played many a memorable innings.
Shaun has taken 391 wickets in one-day internationals, including matches for South Africa, for Africa in the Afro-India series and for a Rest of the World XI against Australia.
For South Africa, he has taken 385 wickets and 104 catches in 292 ODIs.
Chances are that Pollock will tie or beat Rhodes's record of 105 catches, but the odds are against him taking nine wickets in his last two matches to reach 400.
The Kingsmead wicket for Friday's day-night match will be a batsman's paradise, says the groundsman, Evan Flint.
There will be hardly any grass, unlike the wicket on which Pollock took 4-35 in the first innings of the recent Test against the Windies.
The KwaZulu-Natal Cricket Union has announced that a special award will be presented to Pollock during the dinner break.
The former SA captain's family, his parents, Peter and Inez, and other relatives will be there to share in the occasion.
With the Proteas leading the series 3-0, it is expected that the SA selectors will bring back one of the two recently rested fast bowlers, Makhaya Ntini or André Nel, for the Durban match.
Nel has to make use of every opportunity he gets. Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel are in good form and there may not be many opportunities for Nel to play Test cricket and ODIs.
- Beeld
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