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Home / Sport

Adam Parore: Saluting Kallis - a legend of the game

NZ Herald
17 Feb, 2012 04:30 PM3 mins to read

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Jacques Kallis. Photo / Getty Images

Jacques Kallis. Photo / Getty Images

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The arrival of the South African cricket side has brought one of the finest sportsmen in history to our shores.

I'll state my position on Jacques Kallis from the outset - he is the best all-rounder of all time. This, of course, places him ahead of the legendary West Indian Gary Sobers, a call which borders on sacrilege to some.

I'm not overly keen on comparing players across eras, but can't resist when it comes to Kallis. If it came to picking an all-rounder for your life, Kallis would be the man. Without denigrating the great West Indian, Sobers played in more mystical and magical times and people look back with rose-tinted glasses.

Sobers was also unique in the variety of his bowling, something that added to the legend. But Kallis has played in more demanding times, equalled or bettered Sobers over far more matches, and is the best to my mind.

There was a point where cricket pundits believed that we had seen it all when it came to all-rounders, that Sobers, Richard Hadlee, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev and co would not be matched. Kallis has bladed that theory however.

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I saw a lot of him during my career. To put it more precisely, I saw a lot of the Kallis backside from my position behind the stumps. He scored an awful lot of runs against us. An awful lot. No New Zealand bowler had his measure.

As his astounding test average and number of centuries show, Kallis is in the small group of elite test batsmen, a stylist who is wonderful to watch as he finds his spots to plunder runs effortlessly .

Yet he was also quick enough in his prime as a fast bowler to put the fear of God into you. He was also a decent slip fieldsman, although when you score that many runs and take that many wickets, it doesn't actually matter too much how you field.

Another measure of his playing ability came with the introduction of T20, when people doubted he could adapt in the IPL. Boy were they wrong.

To a degree, Kallis has not attracted his due fanfare. For a genuine, class-leading No 3 batsmen to bowl the way he has is remarkable. If he'd been Australian, it would have been hailed like the second coming. South Africans are more understated, or maybe less overstated.

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To cap it off, Kallis is a great bloke - low key, polite, respectful. I was in a group of young players in the South African and New Zealand teams who knocked around for a beer now and then, and he was such a genuine guy. His character is so important to the South African team's dynamic and they look better, more comfortable with him around.

While it is exciting to contemplate watching a cricket legend in action again, we will - unfortunately - see way too much of Kallis. He will score a lot of runs on this tour.

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