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Graeme Pollock or George Headley?
- Thread starter micz
- Start date
Coronis
Cricketer Of The Year
Probably Headley. Was averaging 66+ before the war and only came back when he was around 40. Had a far better conversion rate than Pollock, 10/5 to 7/11. In addition, looking at their first class records Headley averaged almost 70 compared to Pollock's 55. Plus there is of course the added burden for Headley of carrying his team through their tests, unlike Pollock, who had other great talents around him. Once again with a better conversion rate. Both also seem like pretty good fielders too which is a nice bonus. But yeah, I'd go Headley over Pollock.
kyear2
Cricketer Of The Year
Headley. Will basically echo what Coronis said. Carried a weak team that was a fledgling in world cricket. Scored 10 of the first 20 hundreds for W.I. and averaged over 66 before the war. Faced only the top two teams of his era and practically opened the batting coming in at 3.
Seen by many in the pre war era as second only to Bradman after Hobbs retired. Easily Headley for me.
Seen by many in the pre war era as second only to Bradman after Hobbs retired. Easily Headley for me.
fredfertang
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Headley's average drops to 43 if you exclude the Tests he played against England second XIs in 1929/30 and 34/35, so I'd go for Pollock who played all his Tests bar one (and he didn't do all that well in that one against NZ anyway) against Australia and England
bagapath
International Captain
when bradman averaged 99 between 1929 and 1948, hammond averaged in the high 50s. sutcliffe and headley too averaged close to 60.
when pollock played he was on par with sobers and, may be, barrington and they were clearly the best bats of the era.
so it is tough to split them on the basis who dominated his respective era.
i would probably go for pollock; being a lefty hander and a more aggressive batsman in general, he might add a little more to most line ups than the black bradman.
when pollock played he was on par with sobers and, may be, barrington and they were clearly the best bats of the era.
so it is tough to split them on the basis who dominated his respective era.
i would probably go for pollock; being a lefty hander and a more aggressive batsman in general, he might add a little more to most line ups than the black bradman.
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kyear2
Cricketer Of The Year
Pollock managed to.miss playing against any of the great fast bowlers of his era. Don't have the info in front of me right now, but from memory Benaud I'd was probably the best bowler he consistently faced. May be wrong though, will look it up.
I have also read that he had problems with short pitched bowling. Pollock still top 15 in my book, but because his role and responsibility for the team, I would still go with the " Black Bradman"
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Zinzan
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Oh, and of course Pollock isn't West Indian.....
kyear2
Cricketer Of The Year
Neither is Hobbs, Hutton, Tendulkar, Bradman and Richards and I rate them all above Headley.
ankitj
Hall of Fame Member
Graeme Pollock. I have some irrational liking for the man. Love his minimalist technique and strokeplay. And comes across as a very sincere human being. And in a very short period, he played at least 3 knocks of epic quality, so I don't have any doubts that he would have been the leading batsman of the 70's if he played.
fredfertang
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
It's a great shame that Pollock never got to face Wes Hall, but at 40 he had a bloody good record against the West Indian rebels, and Caribbean pacemen didn't come any faster, meaner or better than Sylvers, and Franklyn Stephenson wasn't far behind
Zinzan
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Yeah, bit tongue & cheek on my part tbf. Only due to having seen your sides in the past in which close-calls always seem to fall in the way of the West Indies player. To be fair we all probably look through home-tinted glasses to an extent.
ankitj
Hall of Fame Member
kyear2
Cricketer Of The Year
Understood, but to be fair, the closest call in my ATG team is between Tendulkar and Lara and Tendulkar gets that selection.
In order for me though for batsmen.
Bradman
Richards
Sobers
Hobbs
Tendulkar
Hutton
Lara
Chappell
Richards
Headley
Gavaskar
Ponting
Pollock
Kallis
Sangakkara
Weekes
Hammond
Miandad
Walcott
Compton / Barrington
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the big bambino
International Captain
Pollock because he restored male pride by slamming Zoe Goss after she bossed Lara.
OverratedSanity
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I remember readig something a few months ago that pollock was bankrupt and his house was going to be taken away from him. Apparently he reached out to Cricket SA and got no help. Anyone know how he's doing now? Always sad to see legends struggling in life after cricket. 
fredfertang
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I believe he's had cancer and now has Parkinson's - must have tested the faith of his sibling