Photo courtesy of standford2020.com
The name of Kieron Adrian Pollard has been on the mouths of many West Indians since he announced his arrival into regional cricket with a magnificent 126 on January 4 of this year against Barbados. His powerful, lofted sixes have led many West Indian fans to salivate at the thought of him being a secret weapon for the Windies at the World Cup. It has been almost 2 months since his first class debut and with the World Cup upon us, let's look back at his performance to see if a place in the final XI would be justified for the 19 year old Pollard.
A little know fact is that Pollard has played in the World Cup before - the February 2006 Under 19 World Cup that is. In the 5 matches that the West Indies U-19 team played at the 2006 U-19 Cup, Pollard scored a grand total of 19 runs, for an average of 4.75. (However, it must be noted that he did score an unbeaten 53 against Sri Lanka U-19 in a warm up match). What about his bowling? He only bowled in the first 2 matches and didn't bowl after that. Maybe his economy rate of 8.2 had something to do with that.
The next we hear from Pollard is in the Stanford 20/20 tournament in August 2006, when one innings got peoples' attention. In the semi finals against Nevis, he blasted 83 from 38 balls with four fours and seven sixes. Pollard followed that form with several rapid half centuries in practice matches later in the year. Of note is that he was not selected for either the West Indies 'A' Test or ODI side that played matches against Sri Lanka 'A' in November/December 2006.
It was that form that has propelled him into the limelight here in 2007. A closer look at his returns during the Carib Beer Series and the KFC Cup reveals some interesting trends. Let's look at the four day Carib Beer Series first:
Kieron Pollard's returns with the bat in the Carib Beer Series 2007
Date Match Scores
Jan 4 - 7 vs Barbados 126 & 9
Jan 12 - 15 vs Guyana 69
Jan 20 - 23 vs Leeward Islands 117 & 35
Jan 28 - 30 vs Windward Islands 0
Feb 5 - 8 vs Jamaica 1 & 33
During the series Pollard only bowled 9.1 overs, taking 2 wickets while conceding 44 runs.
Kieron Pollard's returns with the bat in the KFC Cup 2007
Date Match Scores
Jan 9 vs Barbados 46 n.o.
Jan 17 vs Guyana 87
Jan 25 vs Leeward Islands 69
Feb 2 vs Windward Islands 8
Feb 10 vs Jamaica 2
Feb 15 Semi Finals vs Guyana 26
Feb 23 Finals vs Windward Islands 23
Again, Pollard was used sparingly as a bowler, especially in the earlier rounds. He bowled 27 overs all told with an economy rate of 4.67, while taking 8 wickets.
What is noticeable in both the 4 day tournament and the one day tournament is the significant drop off in his form after the third round. Overall he managed to score 2 centuries and 3 half centuries combined in both tournaments.
While Pollard has managed some exciting knocks, his inconsistency and lack of experience speak to someone who may not be ready for ODI cricket on its grandest stage. Against Jamaica, Jermaine Lawson worked him out and he eventually succumed pulling a short ball straight to the fielder. In the KFC Cup semi final against Guyana, he launched a skier to extra cover after chasing a very wide delivery.
Some will argue that Pollard remains a secret weapon that the opposition hasn't seen yet. However his lack of form recently has to be considered. His huge sixes and rapid scoring rate has earned him a place in the 15 man squad, but that alone cannot justify his inclusion in the final XI, when his recent form has not matched that of his performances earlier in the season. Pollard is considered an "allrounder", but based on his returns at the regional level, it is evident that his medium pace cannot be depended on consistently at the ODI level at this time.
Pollard clearly has talent, but he must learn to consistently play each ball on its merit. If not, the selectors run the risk of overexposing another young and promising player only to see him lose confidence and fall away much like Ricardo Powell.
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