Cricketing legend preaches at Bushmans
ROB KNOWLES
QUIETLY relaxed and assured would be a good way to sum up South African cricket legend turned Christian evangelist Peter Pollock.
| CRICKETING ICON: Peter Pollock, cricketing legend and selector as well as father of Proteas captain Shaun, visited Bushmans River Mouth on Saturday to preach the word of God Picture: ROB KNOWLES |
Born in Pietermaritzburg in 1941, Pollock will turn 71 at the end of this month.
"I was born into a Christian family but it wasn't until one day in 1982, while I was watching my TV, that my life changed forever,” he said. "It was then I suddenly understood just who Jesus Christ is.”
Having achieved considerable success as a cricketer Pollock had his own company and all the trappings of a successful businessman.
"Within six years I had gotten rid everything. Instead of the Mercedes I drove a battered old Toyota Skyline, and had traded in my multi-million Rand company in order to evangelise the word of God,” he said.
Pollock toured the world, using his cricket contacts where possible, enabling his message to reach as many people as possible. However, despite being born in Pietermaritzburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal, his connection to the Eastern Cape is undeniable.
Pollock's father, Andrew, was a former editor of the Herald in Port Elizabeth, and the young Pollock began his working life as a reporter for the paper. More than this, Pollock played all of his first class cricket for Eastern Province.
Pollock said his greatest achievement in cricket came alongside his brother, Graeme, when they were both playing in a test match against England at Trent Bridge in 1965. Peter took ten wickets in the match with innings figures of five for 53 and five for 34, while his brother Graeme, batting, made 125 and 59. South Africa won the match, and with it the three-test series.
"The three biggest problems with human beings today are ‘me', ‘myself' and ‘I',” he said. We are so self-centered we think of ourselves as kings of our own lives. And, while we think ourselves kings, God can't be.
"I had everything at one time – fame, riches, a great business, big home, cars. I'd gained the world but lost God in the process.
"You see,” he continued, his eyes piercing and his words spoken quietly but with force, "it doesn't matter, the money and the fame. If you haven't found God you have nothing.”
Pollock contended pride is the sin that must be overcome.
"The word ‘I' is the biggest problem,” he said. "Man's incurable self-centeredness is the biggest stumbling block to getting to know God.”
