Wicket Cricket: Tribute to Kallis
It all started in Durban in 1995 against England, and ended against India, at the same ground for Jacques Kallis in 2013.
Being the only player to score over 13 000 runs with over 200 wickets in Test cricket makes Jacques Henry Kallis without a doubt the best cricketer in his era.
While his era had the likes of Indian batting maestro, Sachin Tendulkar and West Indian Brian Lara, Kallis brings with him his all round abilities. Not only did he contribute massively with the bat, he also bowled with a great level of distinction.
Looking at his figures; as a batsman, he matches those of Rahul David of India and as bowler, he matches those of Zaheer Khan. These statistics suggest he is two complete player packaged in one – an ultimate all-rounder.
At the beginning of his career, Kallis was probably in danger of being dropped from the side after a not so convincing start to his career. However, his innings against Australia in Melbourne was probably the main reason why cemented his place in the South African side.
It is as though the innings he played in Melbourne introduced him to the world of cricket, and since then he has never looked back; in fact, he kept on improving from that day to the day he scored his 45th and last century against India.
To say he is the best cricketer in the world is not an over-statement; he has had a fantastic Test career and should be able to add his value to the shorter version of the game as he aims to help South Africa win the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015.
The innings he played in Melbourne introduced him to the world of cricket, and since then he has never looked back.
After seeing his performance in his last Test, Jacques still has a lot of cricket left in him, the question will be how he will be able to keep himself fit besides playing in the IPL; maybe playing more domestic games in between will help with giving him some time in the middle.
Life after Kallis
With Jacques Kallis now out of the picture in Test Cricket, the idea should not be to replace him, besides; a player such as Kallis cannot be replaced. World cricket will have to wait a while before a player like him emerges.
What South Africa should do is look at employing a specialist wicketkeeper. With no disrespect to AB de Villiers, but he is too good of a batsman to be bothered with wicket keeping duties. His focus should be batting at number four.
De Villiers is an ideal ‘batting’ replacement for Kallis; on the bowling side they have the likes of JP Duminy and Robin Peterson to fill in the option of support bowlers, which Kallis was towards the end of his career, the only flaw would be the lack of a back-up bowler should one of the pace bowlers get injured during the game.
Alternatively, one of the batsmen may lose a place to allow for an extra pace man and a specialist wicketkeeper.
The Test side without should include either Quinton de Kock or Thami Tsolekile as the specialist keeper; considering age, De Kock should be given an opportunity to play in Tests, he is such a special player to be ignored.
Unlike most people who got excited about the youngster recently, I have always believed he has what it takes to be the next ‘Mark Boucher’ of world cricket… The difference being, he can bat slightly better than Boucher.
De Kock should be given an opportunity to play in Tests, he is such a special player to be ignored.
De Kock makes me think of the likes of Adam Gilchrist; a wicketkeeper/batsman coming in at seven during Test matches and opening the batting in One Day Cricket.
