Wisden overview
A low threshold of boredom, or perhaps because he played cricket as a game to be enjoyed rather than merely a job, might have been all that stood between Pat Pocock and a lengthy and successful Test career. As an offspinner, he had a model side-on action, nice drift from leg to off, good control of flight and sufficient powers of spin. But a desire to outwit his man, combined with The Oval's frustrating lack of bounce and pace in the 1970s, denied "Percy" a crucial weapon in the finger-spinner's armoury – willingness to bore a batsman out. For England, Pocock's overs cost half-a-run more each than John Emburey's; which probably accounted for Embers playing more than twice as many Tests. John Thicknesse

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