The Pollock gene pool strikes again! Can there be a better father-son Test average for batting and bowling than the combined efforts of father Peter and son Shaun?
The two distinguished cricketers, past and present, met up at Shaun's home in Hillcrest on Wednesday as the 33-year-old snatched a brief break before the Boxing Day Test against India at Kingsmead.
Shaun, of course, captured seven wickets in the first Test at the Wanderers last week to break the 400-wicket barrier, the first South African to do so and only the 10th in the history of the game. His effort was a beacon in an otherwise dismal performance by the Proteas as India grabbed their first Test win in South Africa.
Between them, the Pollocks, whose combined age is 98, have taken a total of 518 Test wickets at a combined average of 23.69. Definitely not shabby. Their batting average is a little more modest, with Shaun currently averaging 31.79 while Peter finished with a highest score of 75 and an average of 21.68. That makes for a combined |average of 26.73. Still useful. South Africa could certainly have done with a bit of that in their first innings last week.
While Shane Warne will almost certainly take his 700th Test wicket in front of his adoring home crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground next week, Polly's dad somehow knew his son would capture his 400th wicket in Johannesburg.
Peter said he was naturally very proud of his son's achievement, adding: "When I dropped Shaun off at the airport before the game, I told him he would get the remaining five wickets at the Wanderers."
His instincts proved correct.
"The most impressive thing is that he's kept it going all these years (this is Pollock's 12th year as a Test player).
"He's kept himself fit and he's certainly been Mr Consistency," his dad said.
Asked whether he could have foreseen such a feat when his son made his Test debut in November 1995, Peter, who was chairperson of the national selectors at the time, said it would have defeated his imagination. "In my day, when Lance Gibbs and Freddie Trueman passed the 300-wicket mark, people said nobody would beat that record. Of course, so much more Test cricket is played these days."
Shaun, 33, who had looked mildly embarrassed by all this paternal praise, then bade me farewell, quietly saying:
"Cut all my dad's stuff in half!"
Peter has been invited by Cricket South Africa to attend the first day's play at Kingsmead, with Shaun the guest of honour at a ceremony to record his feat during the tea break.