GRAEME Pollock was named South Africa’s Cricketer of the Century in Cape Town on Sunday at a ceremony in which close contender Basil D’Oliveira walked onto the Newlands ground for the first time in his life.
The 55-year-old Pollock, an elegant left-handed batsman whose Test average of 60.97 was second only to that of Australian Don Bradman, was a natural choice for the honour, presented by Sports Minister Ngconde Balfour at tea on the first day of the fourth Test between England and South Africa.
But D’Oliveira received a huge ovation when he walked onto the field, in the city of his birth.
Classified as “coloured” (mixed-race) by the previous apartheid government, D’Oliveira could not play at Newlands during his career because of apartheid’s racist policies and went to England to make his Test debut at the age of 35.
The other nominees included Test cricketers Allan Donald, Mike Procter and Barry Richards and the late Aubrey Faulkner, Hugh Tayfield and Dudley Nourse.
Also nominated were bowler Eric Petersen, who played with D’Oliveira for the South African non-racial side in the 1950s, and the late Frank Roro, a black African batsman who reputedly had an average of over 100 in African cricket.