'You were our Glenn McGrath' - Allan Donald pens open letter to recent ICC Hall of Fame inductee Shaun Pollock

One of South Africa’s finest all-rounders, Shaun Pollock was inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame recently. Thus, the former Proteas pacer Allan Donald has heaped praises on his former teammate. He termed Pollock as the ‘Glenn McGrath of the then South African team’ that dominated the proceedings in world cricket.

The former South African skipper was included in the elite club alongside Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene and former England women’s team captain late Janette Brittin. Pollock represented the nation for the span of almost 13 years wherein he featured in 108 Tests, 303 ODIs and 12 T20Is for South Africa.

Considered one of the best all-rounders in cricketing history, he scored over 7000 runs runs and scalped 829 wickets in international cricket. Pollock was the first player to achieve the incredible feat of 3,000 runs and 300 wickets doubles in both Tests and ODIs.

Allan Donald congratulated Pollock for getting the honors and also lavished praises on his former pace-blowing partner. He highlighted Pollock’s fiefdom in a letter uploaded on the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) website. Donald also admired the way the former Proteas all-rounder bounced back from injuries and consistently performed for the side.

Allan Donald reflects on Shaun Pollock’s glittering career   

“What I admire a lot about you is the way you were able to adapt your game. When you first came into the Proteas side, you were this fast bowler who could terrorize batters. Despite injuries later in your career, you always managed to be effective, even if you didn’t quite have the pace you once had, and that’s a remarkable quality. You were our Glenn McGrath, the sort of bowler who could lock down an end and let the rest of us run free at the other.

“We could throw you the ball and say ‘See you tonight’. You would pile up the dots at one end and then I would have a license to express myself. Where my style was to combine control with pace, you did so with swing, getting so close to the stumps that batters would have to play almost every ball. It took incredible stamina and concentration because you gave them nowhere to hide,” Allan Donald wrote in the letter.