Pollock: Learn from the past
Altus Momberg, Die Burger
Colombo - The South African cricket team should heed the lessons of previous tours of Sri Lanka to win the second Test match here, says veteran seamer Shaun Pollock.
The Proteas, beaten by an innings and 153 runs in the first Test, are up against the Sri Lankans again on Friday when the second Test starts at the P Sanavattu Stadium.
"One can go and sit in sackcloth and ashes or you can swallow your medicine and take the positive aspects from the performance," Pollock said here on Tuesday.
"One should not think too much about what happened. There is one Test left and not much time before it starts.
"You should draw a line through the previous performance and look ahead.
"There were some positive aspects (in the first Test)," he added.
"Some of the guys batted well. We also had them two wickets down for 20 runs; it could have been three for 30.
"Then, we could have put some pressure on their inexperienced middle order."
Not thinking of retiring
Pollock, who needs six wickets to become the first South African to take 400 in Test cricket, joined the team last Friday after missing the first 10 days of the tour to be with his wife during the birth of their second child.
The veteran seamer denied on Tuesday that he was contemplating retirement. "I still enjoy every moment of my cricket," he said.
"It is hard to leave one's family at home, but I still enjoy the game as much as I ever did.
"The day when I don't enjoy it, it will be time to pack up and retire," said the 33-year-old player from KwaZulu-Natal.
Pollock feels the Proteas should learn from what happened during the 2000 tour of Sri Lanka.
"We were given a hiding in Galle; also losing by an innings. But we turned the tables in Kandy. We hope we can do it again."
Pollock was the captain when South Africa lost by an innings and 15 runs in Galle and won by seven runs in Kandy.
On Tuesday, he emphasised that the team would have to fight back.
"In these conditions you have to fight to win. The conditions do not suit us, so we have to do even more to be successful.
"This is what we did in Kandy in 2000 and what we now have to do here."
It is still unclear which bowler will make way for Pollock, but he will certainly return to Test cricket this week.
And, as in the series against New Zealand earlier this year, he will be deployed as change bowler.
Bowled quick spinners
"It is a new role and quite a lot will be required of me here," he said. "My job will be to keep the runs down.
"Here, a catch in the covers is as good as one at first slip. It does now matter how you get them out."
Pollock also recalled the role that Lance Klusener had played as a bowler in 2000.
"Lance quickly learnt to move the ball off the seam in these conditions.
"At times, he bowled quick spinners, which enabled us to use two spin bowlers almost for the first time.
"I won't be able to do that, but I'll try to vary my bowling," he said.
News source: www.news24.co.za
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