Graeme Pollock

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Pollock was born into a Scottish family in Durban, Natal Province, Union of South Africa on 27 February 1944. His father, Andrew, was a former first-class cricketer with Orange Free State and the editor of the Eastern Province Herald. As a youth, Pollock earned the nickname Little Dog alongside his brother Peter, who was called Big Dog. He attended Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, where he was coached by Sussex professional George Cox and Hampshire professional Tom Dean. In his first match for Grey Junior, aged 9, he took all ten wickets before scoring 117 not out. At 15, Pollock was selected to represent South Africa schoolboys. In 1960, aged 16, he made his first-class debut for Eastern Province against Border, scoring 54 before being run out. Later that season he scored his maiden first-class century, scoring 102 against Transvaal B, becoming the youngest South African to score a first-class century. In the 1962–63 season, aged 19, he scored 209 not out for an Eastern Province Invitational XI against the International Cavaliers, which included bowlers such as Richie Benaud and Graham McKenzie. Benaud described the innings as 'magnificent', later saying 'I knew I was watching a champion.'

Reader's Guide

Graeme Pollock's significance lies in his extraordinary batting record despite a truncated international career. His completed career Test match batting average of 60.97 remains the third best behind Sir Don Bradman and Adam Voges. He was voted in 1999 as South Africa's Cricketer of the 20th Century, and was one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year in 1966. Bradman described Pollock, along with Sir Garfield Sobers, as the best left-handed batsman he had ever seen play cricket. In 2009, Pollock was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame. His legacy endures as a symbol of what might have been, had the sporting boycott not ended his career at age 26. Key moments include his Test debut in 1963–64 in Australia, where he made 122 in the third Test in Sydney, becoming the youngest South African to score a Test century at 19 years and 317 days. In the fourth Test in Adelaide, he and Eddie Barlow shared a South African third-wicket record partnership of 341; Pollock hitting 175. In 1965 at Trent Bridge, he made 125, an innings he described in his autobiography as his best. John Woodcock wrote in The Cricketer, 'Not since Bradman's day could anyone recall having seen an English attack treated in such cavalier style.' In 1966–67 against Australia, he scored 209 in the Second Test at Newlands despite batting with an injured groin. In his last Test series, against Bill Lawry's Australians, he broke Jackie McGlew's South African Test record of 255 when he scored 274 in the 2nd Test in Durban.

Did You Know?

• Pollock earned the nickname Little Dog because his brother Peter's lbw appeals sounded like a dog barking, and Atholl McKinnon called Peter 'Pooch' — when Graeme joined the provincial eleven they became Big Dog and Little Dog.
• At age 9, in his first match for Grey Junior, Pollock took all ten wickets before scoring 117 not out.
• Pollock was the youngest South African to score a Test century, at 19 years and 317 days, a record he held until it was broken by Lhuan-dre Pretorius in 2025.
• In the 1965 Trent Bridge Test, Pollock made 125, with his last 91 runs coming in 70 minutes; John Woodcock wrote that not since Bradman's day had an English attack been treated in such cavalier style.
• Pollock broke Jackie McGlew's South African Test record of 255 when he scored 274 in the 2nd Test against Australia in Durban.