Jack Pollard

Jack Pollard
Born(1926-07-31)31 July 1926
Sydney, Australia
Died25 May 2002(2002-05-25) (aged 75)
Sydney, Australia
CitizenshipAustralia
OccupationWriter & journalist
Known forSports journalist, writer, cricket historian
AwardsMedal of the Order of Australia

Jack Ernest Pollard OAM (31 July 1926 – 25 May 2002) was an Australian sports journalist, writer and cricket historian.

Early life

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Born in Sydney on 31 July 1926, Pollard began his journalism career in 1943 as a copy boy at Sydney's Daily Telegraph newspaper. At the age of 18, he was called up to the Australian Army, serving from 1944 to 1947 and finishing with the rank of sergeant.[1] A foot injury sustained during an army rugby game saw him sit out nine months at Holsworthy Barracks. The injury may have saved Pollard's life as the other men of his assigned platoon were later killed in action in New Guinea.

Journalism career

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From 1945 to 1947, Pollard lived in post-war Japan working as a sports editor for the armed forces newspaper there. He returned to Sydney briefly, then moved to England, where he worked as a horse racing writer for a newspaper in Sheffield.

In 1948, he started work as a correspondent for the Australian Associated Press in London which included a regular column, sometimes serious, other times humorous.[2][3]

He covered many major sporting events, including the 1948 Summer Olympics, ten Wimbledon Championships and the 1948 tour of England by Don Bradman's Australian cricket team.[4][5][6]

Publishing career

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Pollard returned to Sydney in 1956, where he worked as a sports reporter with the Telegraph before starting his own publishing company in 1959, Jack Pollard Publishing, which specialised in books on sport and leisure topics.[7] Pollard was a prolific writer and editor, who produced a large number of sporting reference books, including a definitive five-volume history of Australian cricket, encyclopaedias on rugby union, golf, horse racing and a series of popular fishing guides. He also wrote biographies for several sports stars including tennis players Lew Hoad and Rod Laver, cricketer Keith Miller and umpire Lou Rowan, golfer Bruce Devlin, rugby league players Ken Thornett and Johnny Raper, and VFL player Peter McKenna.[8]

Books on cricket

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Although Pollard's works included all Australian sports,[9] it is his cricket writing that is considered an important part of his legacy. Books include such topics as:

  • The history of Australian cricket[10][11]
  • Cricket statistics[12]
  • The "Australian way" of playing cricket[13]

Retirement

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Pollard retired from publishing in 1981 to concentrate on writing.[14][15]

He died on 25 May 2002, after suffering a stroke upon his return to Sydney from a research trip in Melbourne.

Honours

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The Jack Pollard Trophy is awarded annually by the Australian Cricket Society for the leading Australian cricket book published over the previous 12 months.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Pollard, Jack Ernest". Department of Veterans' Affairs. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  2. ^ "The OTHER SIDE". The Sun. No. 2598. Sydney. 8 February 1953. p. 29. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  3. ^ "AUSTRALIA BLAMED FOR LEAGUE ROW". The Sun. No. 13, 104. Sydney. 29 January 1952. p. 22 (LATE FINAL EXTRA). Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  4. ^ Clark, David (2003). ABC Australian Sports Almanac 2003. Sydney: Hardie Grant Books. ISBN 1-74064-056-X.
  5. ^ "One man's view of cricket, both past and present". The Canberra Times. Vol. 71, no. 22, 114. 3 November 1995. p. 31. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  6. ^ Pollard, Jack (1948), Meet the Kangaroos : introducing the 1948/9 Australian Rugby League team with superb action shots and pen portraits of all the players, Hotspur Publishing, retrieved 23 January 2017
  7. ^ a b The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket, Oxford, Melbourne, 1996, p. 423.
  8. ^ a b Jack Pollard, Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
  9. ^ Pollard, Jack, 1926– (1969), Ampol's Australian sporting records, Pollard Publishing Co, retrieved 23 January 2017{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ Pollard, Jack (1995), The complete illustrated history of Australian cricket (2nd ed.), Viking, ISBN 978-0-670-90329-0
  11. ^ Pollard, Jack (1989), The pictorial history of Australian cricket (3rd ed.), Hodder & Stoughton, ISBN 978-0-340-51638-6
  12. ^ Dundas, Ross; Pollard, Jack, 1926–2002 (1990), Highest, most and best Australian cricket statistics 1850–1990, Angus & Robertson, ISBN 978-0-207-16460-6{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Pollard, Jack, 1926–2002 (1968), Cricket, the Australian way (2nd ed.), Lansdowne, ISBN 978-0-7018-0231-8{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "NOTICE is hereby given that a petition to wind up Jack Pollard Publishing Pty Limited was, on 24th December, 1981". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 17. 5 February 1982. p. 580. Retrieved 23 January 2017.
  15. ^ Gibson, Mike (11 August 1981), "Sport historian yearns to write", Bulletin (Sydney) (11 August 1981): 84, ISSN 0007-4039
  16. ^ POLLARD, Jack Ernest Archived 25 December 2019 at the Wayback Machine, It's an Honour (Australian Government).
  17. ^ "Awards & Speakers". Australian Cricket Society. 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
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