Pollard buoyed by performance against Jamaica
By JOEL BAILEY Wednesday, April 9 2014
newsday
ALL-ROUNDER Kieron Pollard was buoyed by his Man of the Match performance for Trinidad and Tobago against Jamaica last weekend, in their Regional Four Day Championship Sixth Round battle at the Queen’s Park Oval.
Pollard’s first innings knock of 111 went a long way in guiding Trinidad and Tobago to a 145-run trouncing of Jamaica, within three days, on Sunday.
“It’s good,” was how Pollard described his Man of the Match award. “Not playing cricket for six months, I was really disappointed but these things happen.”
Pollard has been recuperating from a lengthy knee injury and he stated, “I got injured and coming back, I just wanted to do my best.
“The first game (against the Combined Campuses and Campuses from March 28-31), I didn’t set myself any goals, just being on the cricket field and lasting that four days, and I actually did that.
He continued, “and the second game, I set myself to get a big (score) and it happened, thank God for that. I’ve been through a lot but these things happen.”
His century was only his fourth in 26 First Class games. He said, “for the last three years, I’ve been averaging two games per season. That’s how it goes.
“I feel good to get triple figures again. It’s always great when you actually bat for long periods. I’ve been practicing in the nets and I’ve been doing a lot of batting, while I was rehabbing so, for me, it’s just hard work paying off.”
Asked about his knee, Pollard replied, “the knee is fine. I got through this game again. I’ve been doing training on mornings before the game, during the game I’m still training. I’m still working on it. These injuries take almost a year to actually heal properly so I still have a lot of work to do but, coming back before time, it was a great achievement for me.
The hard-hitting batsman and medium pacer is set to leave for the United Arab Emirates today for the 2014 Indian Premier League – which will be staged jointly in the UAE (April 16-30) and India (May 2-June 1).
The Mumbai Indians stand-out commented, “we’re the defending champions so the pressure is always there. You always want to win that tournament.
“For me, it’s to do whatever is required, it’s Twenty20 cricket, it’s not every day you’re going to come off so it’s what the team requires at that point in time and adjust their game to suit,” Pollard said. “I’m three-dimensional in terms of batting, bowling and fielding so I just want to go out there and do my best.”
Later this year, Pollard will return to the Barbados Tridents, as its West Indies Franchise Player, in the second annual Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
Concerning the Tridents’ targets, the 26-year-old pointed out, “to get to the final and win it.
“We have a couple changes in our team,” he said. “It’s a matter of getting the guys together, a week before the actual tournament start, and trying to gel and see if we can build a momentum. T20 cricket is all about momentum.
“We have a good thing going in terms of the management staff. It’s just a matter of getting the players to rally around and believing in each other.”
Pollard sustained his knee injury during a charity football match and he stressed, “for me, I think football is off the cards for now. I’m concentrating on cricket.
“Football has cost me six months, a major career-threatening injury so some things you just have to put on the back-burner, and you learn from that. At the end of the day, I still watch football. I’m a Manchester United fan so that will be enough.”
