Jacques Kallis

Jacques Henry Kallis (Born:16 October 1975 in Pinelands, Cape Town) is a South African cricketer. As an all-rounder he is a talented right-handed batsman and fast-medium swingbowler. He is the only Test cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 10,000 runs and 250 wickets.[1][2] (Sanath Jayasuriya has achieved that feat in ODIs but not Tests). Often criticised for his apparent unwillingness to dominate the opposition and score runs quickly, Kallis has demonstrated increasing willingness to attack with the bat in hand in recent years, and from October-December 2007 produced a remarkable streak of 5 centuries in 4 Test Matches. With 30 Test centuries, one more than Sir Donald Bradman, Kallis has established himself as one of the modern greats of the game. He was named Leading Cricketer in the World in the 2008 Wisden for his performances in 2007 in addition to being the "ICC Test Player of the Year" and ICC Player of the Year in 2005 (the latter jointly with Andrew Flintoff






Early career
Jacques Kallis attended and played cricket for Wynberg Boys' High School.[4] As a teenager, Kallis had a brief spell with Netherfield CC in England where he established himself in Northern England but he was released. Kallis also played for Old Edwardians for a spell as a teenager, where coaching staff saw potential for him to become a first-class all rounder; later in his first season he was picked for South Africa U-21's as a 12th man. He made his first-class debut in 1993/94 as an 18-year-old, playing for Western Province. His first Test appearance was in December 1995 against England at Durban, but he struggled with the bat in his first few matches. His breakthrough came in 1997 with 61 against Pakistan, but more notably two matches later when he salvaged a draw for South Africa with a fighting century against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.




1998-2002
Between 1998-2002, Jacques Kallis was one of the world's leading all-rounders, as seen in the ICC's Cricket ratings[1]. In 1998 he led South Africa to the ICC Champions Trophy title with two Man of the Match and the Player of the Series performances. The youngster was solid, without being spectacular, in the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup, before a Player of the Series performance led South Africa to a stunning Test series victory against India in India in 2000. By late 2001 he was the world's number one ranked Test All-Rounder, having held the same ranking in ODIs for the best part of 3 years. During this time, "Kallis blossomed into arguably the world's leading batsman, with a defensive technique second-to-none, and the adhesive qualities of a Cape Point limpet. Generally a placid and undemonstrative man, he nailed down the crucial No. 3 position in the South African batting order after a number of players had been tried and discarded, and his stock rose exponentially from that moment."[



2003-2007
Kallis is only the third player in Test history (after Sir Donald Bradman and Mohammad Yousuf) to make a century in five consecutive matches, achieved in season 2003/04. In 2005 he set the record for the fastest half-century, as measured by balls faced, in Test cricket history, scoring 50 against Zimbabwe off only 24 balls.[7] In 2007 Kallis scored 5 centuries in 4 Tests, making him just the fourth man after Bradman, Ken Barrington and Matthew Hayden to score 4 centuries in 4 Tests on two different occasions. That Kallis holds these records belies his reputation as a defensive, unadventurous batsman of the old-fashioned type, something Kallis himself is determined to erase.[8] Regardless of style, Kallis has a remarkable batting average in the mid-50s, and is rated as one of the best batsmen in the world. Although still a very capable bowler with over 200 Test wickets, he impressed mostly with the bat between 2005-7. As a result, Kallis evolved into more of a batting all-rounder, a role in which he continued because of the emergence of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, and Paul Harris. Kallis is the only man to score over 10000 runs and to take over 200 wickets in Test cricket. Sir Garfield Sobers managed over 8,000 runs and 200 wickets by comparison, at very similar averages.

In 2005 Kallis was selected for the World XI team to play an Asian XI in a benefit match for those affected by the tsunami of 2004, along with countryman Shaun Pollock. In the same year he was awarded the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC player of the year. The award was shared with Andrew Flintoff of England, his only serious competitor as the world's leading all-rounder, after the votes of the academy were tied. Kallis also won the ICC Test Player of the Year award that year.[5]

Kallis was awarded the captaincy of South Africa for the third and final Test match against Australia in 2006 when Graeme Smith stood down with an injury. Kallis currently holds a number of South African cricket records, including most ODI and Test runs, highest ODI and second highest Test batting average and most Test centuries by a South African.[9]

In the 2007 World Cup Kallis was South Africa's leading run scorer with 485 runs at 80.83. He was, however, criticized in the press for some slow performances which cost South Africa momentum at key stages in the tournament. In August 2007 he was omitted from the 15 man South Africa squad for 2007 ICC World Twenty20, and consequently quit as the Proteas' vice captain. He was restored to the team for the Test series against Pakistan, where he smashed three centuries in four innings and was awarded Man of the Match twice and Player of the Series to underscore his importance to the South African cause




2008-present
Kallis endured an uncharacteristically poor 2008 with the bat, averaging well under thirty for much of it. Against the ninth-ranked Bangladesh, he averaged just 25.75 in four Test outings. He also played for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League, where he averaged 16.85 runs per innings with the bat and 55.5 runs per wicket with the ball at an economy rate of 9.65 [2] in the 7 matches he played before he was dropped.

However, Kallis stepped up his bowling significantly in 2008. He took 29 Test wickets at an average of 28.47 [10], including 6 at 33.50 against Australia in Australia in December. Kallis also produced some improved form with the bat in Australia, scoring two vital knocks of 63 and 57 in consecutive 124 run partnerships with AB de Villiers as South Africa chased down a record 414 runs to win the first Test in Perth[11]. He went on to take three wickets, four catches at slip and scored 26 runs to help South Africa beat Australia by 9 wickets at the MCG, a result which clinched South Africa's first ever Test Series victory over Australia in Australia.[12]. The win was South Africa's 11th in a year in which they drew with India in India, defeated England in England, Australia in Australia and also recorded series wins over West Indies and Bangladesh. Kallis featured in all of those matches and remains an integral part of the champion side's set-up




Rankings
Jacques Kallis has achieved the following career best rankings in the Cricket ratings as determined by the International Cricket Council 3:

Test Batting: career best 1st; career high points 935
Test Bowling: career best 6th; career high points 742
Test All-rounders: career best 1st; career high points 615
ODI Batting: career best 1st; career high points 817
ODI Bowling: career best 11th; career high points 641
ODI All-rounders: career best 1st