Richard Pollard (19 June 1912 – 16 December 1985) was an English cricketer born in Westhoughton, Lancashire, who played in four Test matches 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.
Early career
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.
Injuries to Sibbles and to Frank Booth gave Pollard an opportunity to play 23 matches in 1935, and was awarded his county cap. Wisden noted how well he compensated for the loss of the senior bowlers: "With length, fair pace and swerve, Pollard proved so successful that, no doubt, he would have taken a hundred wickets for the County had not tonsilitis caused his retirement from the Somerset match." In fact, by playing for The Rest against the new County Champions, Yorkshire and taking three wickets in the game, he reached exactly 100 wickets for the season. Earlier in the season, in the match against Kent at Dover, he had improved his best innings figures to 7/87 and taken 10 wickets in a match for the first time, finishing with 11/176.
Front-line county bowler
Age and injuries caused the decline of many of Lancashire's cricketers in 1936, and the county finished 11th in the County Championship, equalling its lowest ever position to that date. Pollard was exempted from the criticisms in Wisden – he "improved a little", it said. In all games, he took 108 wickets at an average of 20.13. He improved his best bowling figures twice in different matches against Glamorgan: he took 7/57 in the away match at Cardiff and followed that with 8/42 in the return match at Old Trafford. There was also progress in batting: he hit 58 not out in the match against Surrey at Old Trafford, and followed that with 55 in the return match at The Oval. The 1936 season was the only one in which he passed 50 runs in an innings more than once.
Pollard's record in the three immediate pre-war seasons, 1937–1939 indicate his reliability. In the three seasons, he took, respectively, 112, 149, and 111 wickets, with 1938 being the most prolific season in his career. For most of these three years, his new-ball partner was Eddie Phillipson, who was very similar in style and pace. They both relied on accuracy rather than speed, using the seam of the ball, and generating some swing. Phillipson was injured for part of 1938, which put more work on to Pollard and to a degree explains his high tally of wickets. In that season too, Pollard was picked for a Test trial match between England and The Rest. Playing for The Rest, he produced figures of 5/57 in England's innings of 377, but it did not lead to a Test call-up. However, he was picked for the Gentlemen v Players match at Lord's.