The abrupt nature of Jacques Kallis’ retirement from Test cricket has robbed the cricketing world of an opportunity to reflect upon and celebrate the staggering contribution he has made to the longest format of the game.
Just as he slipped under the radar during his 18-year career, the South African is winding up with barely a day’s notice prior to his last game in whites.
As Kallis readies to play that exquisite cover drive, bowl that nagging outswinger and field at slip with those bucket hands for the final time in Tests, one is forced to search for reasons as to why he has hardly ever been considered as an all-time great cricketer, let alone the best all-rounder cricket has seen.
All discussions about the best players, in Tests of course, generally includes the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Don Bradman, Garry Sobers, Ian Botham, Shane Warne… many but hardly ever Kallis.
Which is strange because in 165 Test matches, he has 13,174 runs at an average of 55.12 with 44 Test centuries. That’s right, Sachin had 51 tons and Kallis, without creating a flutter, has 44.
What one must remember is that among all contemporary batsmen who are included in the discussion of great players, no one plays his home matches at No3 in some of the most treacherous wickets in the world like Kallis does.
And then there is the bowling. For nearly two decades, he has been providing breakthroughs with his sharp swing bowling and what is amazing is that even at the age of 38, he is able to ramp up his workload and bowl 20 overs in the second innings when the main bowler is down, as he did in the Johannesburg Test after Morne Morkel got injured.
And he can still reach speeds of 140kmph, in his third spell. Can you recall any other world-class cricketer who managed to do that, with such a massive workload?
To top it all, he has 199 catches to his name, second behind Rahul Dravid’s world record 210, fielding in the slips and taking sharp chances off some seriously quick bowlers.
So it would be safe to say that he has done it all in the longest format of the game, home and away.
Now add to it his 11,574 runs, 273 wickets and 129 catches in ODIs, plus the modest 666 runs, 12 wickets and seven catches in T20s and one realises what an immense cricketer he has been.
Simply for the amount of runs, wickets and catches he has to his name in all formats, all accumulated while maintaining immaculate technique.
One of the reasons he is not so widely celebrated as some of his peers are is probably his biggest strength – perfection.
Everything he does is clean and according to the coaching manual. Perfect strokes down the ground, excellent out-swingers with the seam pointing to slips, immaculate catching with him almost never falling awkwardly.
It’s probably because of his near-perfect technique that many do not want to bracket him with those who may not have achieved even half as much as him on a cricket field but have done so with a lot more flair.
One sees no other reason as to why a Sobers, with 8,032 Test runs at 57.78 and 235 wickets is rated a lot higher than Kallis by many. Fans would love to see Sobers. Only aficionados can appreciate a Kallis.
But it’s not the South African’s fault that fans aren’t quite glued to the TV sets or are on the edge of the seats at the stadium when he his doing his thing.
There is a job to be done and he does it like it is supposed to be done. Even though Kallis will still be around in the one-dayers, his exit from the arena that celebrates technique and poise will be especially felt.
Once the dust settles, maybe cricket would finally realise that a colossus like no other has left the five-day battle field.
