Background
Pollock is of Scottish ancestry through his father Andrew Pollock, who was born in Edinburgh to a minister and moved to present-day South Africa.
Pollock is of Scottish ancestry through his father Andrew Pollock, who was born in Edinburgh to a minister and moved to present-day South Africa.
He has played a continuing role in the South Africa cricket team as a player and selected. He was primarily a fast bowler, but was also a useful late-order batsman. On his debut, he took six wickets in the second innings against New Zealand in Durban in 1961.
He was South Africa"s leading bowler in the 1960s, playing every Test between 1962 and 1970.
Pollock was convenor of selectors for South Africa in the 1990s, immediately following their re-admittance into world cricket after the collapse of apartheid. He is often credited with establishing the work ethic and style of play (based on tight fast bowling) that led to the team rapidly rising to become one of the top two teams in the game.
Later, he led calls for the famous fast bowler Allan Donald to retire from the game when that player became very injury-prone due to his age. Outside cricket, Peter is a trained journalist and a lay preacher.
He has written books on cricket and Christian belief.