Shaun Pollock was born on 16 July 1973 in Port Elizabeth and moved to Durban at the age of five. Born to a cricketing family, his father Peter and Uncle Graeme represented South Africa. By the age of 11 he was excelling at various sports. He attended Northlands High School and studied commerce at the University of Natal.
Shaun Pollock's passion for cricket overtook his studies, and he was signed up by the Natal Dolphins as opening batsman. In 1995 he played his international debut game against the visiting English squad. In 2000 he was unexpectedly given the South African captaincy following the sacking of Hansie Cronje in a corruption scandal.
Pollock was replaced as South African captain by Graeme Smith and remains an integral part of the squad. In 2004 he became the 2nd South African to take 300 Test wickets and the 19th in the history of the game. Pollock has won the ‘man of the match’ title several times in both One Day International and Test Matches.
He lives with his wife and daughter in Durban.
Joyce, P. (1999). A concise Dictionary of South African Biography, Cape Town: Francolin, p. 211.|www.southafrica.info/ess_info/sa_glance/sports/pollock.htm|www. Christianity.net.au/stories/shaun.htm