Dick Pollard

Richard "Dick" Pollard (19 June 1912 – 16 December 1985) was an English cricketer born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, who played in four Tests between 1946 and 1948. A fast-medium right-arm bowler and a lower-order right-handed batsman who made useful runs on occasion, he played for Lancashire between 1933 and 1950, taking 1,122 wickets in 298 first-class matches; he is 10th highest wicket-taker for Lancashire.

A big and heavy man, he was known as a hard worker and, according to his obituary in Wisden in 1986, "his reputation as a great trier commended him to the Lancashire public". Season after season, Wisden referred to Pollard's accuracy and reliability, and his ability to bowl long spells without apparently tiring.

Pollard made his first-class debut for Lancashire in August 1933 against Nottinghamshire; while batting at number 11 he scored 16 not out, and took the wicket of Nottinghamshire captain Arthur Carr. In Lancashire's County Championship-winning side of 1934, he was seen as a medium-paced reserve to the front-line bowlers, but injuries, particularly to Frank Sibbles, meant that he played 11 matches in the last two months of the season, and took 38 wickets in them at an average of 19.31. In the second innings of a match against Gloucestershire, Pollard took 6 wickets for 21 runs. Wisden reported that "He kept a fine length and made the ball turn quickly with great effect". It was his best bowling at the time, beating his previous best of 2/31. In Championship games, he made only 14 runs in total, but in the end-of-season Champion County v The Rest match at The Oval, he scored 27 not out in the first innings and 28 in the second. The Rest were made of players from counties other than the current champions.