Kandy, Sri Lanka - JACQUES Kallis has woken up and smelled the golf course. Or the beach. Or the boerie rolls at a Wynberg Boys’ High rugby match.
Whichever it is, the great allrounder will have more time to do whatever he likes in the wake of his retirement from all international cricket yesterday.
With that, all questions about the sense and sensibility – not to mention the sentimentality – of him playing in the 2015 World Cup no longer need be asked.
Kallis’ decision follows his revelation on Christmas Day last year that the Boxing Day Test against India at Kingsmead would be his last.
He is survived by one of the most glittering records in all of cricket, having played 166 Tests in which he scored 13289 runs, among them 45 centuries, at an average of 55.37. He also took 292 wickets. In 328 one-day internationals, he made 11579 runs at 44.36, had 17 hundreds, and claimed 273 wickets. Kallis appeared in 25 T20 internationals, reaching 50 in five of them and taking four wickets once.
But, during SA’s one-day series in Sri Lanka earlier this month, none of that mattered – nor did adding to those numbers.
“I realised in Sri Lanka that my dream of playing in a World Cup was a bridge too far,” Kallis was quoted as saying in a Cricket SA statement. “I just knew on that tour that I was done.”
Kallis scored five runs in three innings in the rubber, and did not bowl because of a back problem. In fact, he made just one 50 in his last 10 ODI innings. Who would not want Kallis in their team? But who would want Kallis in the form he has shown recently?
Clearly, what he described yesterday as “an amazing journey” was over. Almost.
“I am not retiring from all cricket as I have a two-year contract with the Sydney Thunder (team) and, if possible, (I would like) to help the Kolkata Knight Riders defend the IPL (Indian Premier League) title we won earlier this year.”
Kallis will always be a giant of the game in SA and the world, and it is to his credit that he has been big enough to walk away without, as far as is known, being pushed.
As odd as it sounds, this is good news for SA’s World Cup planning. Now selection convenor Andrew Hudson and coach Russell Domingo do not have to have a contingency ready, which would have been the case had Kallis kept himself in the mix without SA knowing whether he would have been ready, willing or able to make it to the tournament. The elephant has left the room.
The issue has been settled with enough time and match practice remaining before SA play their first game of the World Cup against Zimbabwe in Hamilton on March 15.
As matters stand, Faf du Plessis looks likely to replace Kallis at number three in the batting order, but that decision does not have to be made right now.
SA begin a series of three ODIs in Zimbabwe on August 17. Then they stay north of the Limpopo to play a triangular that also involves Australia. That will be followed by two ODI games in New Zealand, and five in Australia. So, there are plenty of opportunities for Du Plessis to prove himself the right man for the job.
Even though it is too soon to panic, Kallis’ retirement will make some people want to do just that. They should ask themselves: what would Jacques do?
Kingmaker makes his final exit
Whichever it is, the great allrounder will have more time to do whatever he likes in the wake of his retirement from all international cricket yesterday.
With that, all questions about the sense and sensibility – not to mention the sentimentality – of him playing in the 2015 World Cup no longer need be asked.
Kallis’ decision follows his revelation on Christmas Day last year that the Boxing Day Test against India at Kingsmead would be his last.
He is survived by one of the most glittering records in all of cricket, having played 166 Tests in which he scored 13289 runs, among them 45 centuries, at an average of 55.37. He also took 292 wickets. In 328 one-day internationals, he made 11579 runs at 44.36, had 17 hundreds, and claimed 273 wickets. Kallis appeared in 25 T20 internationals, reaching 50 in five of them and taking four wickets once.
But, during SA’s one-day series in Sri Lanka earlier this month, none of that mattered – nor did adding to those numbers.
“I realised in Sri Lanka that my dream of playing in a World Cup was a bridge too far,” Kallis was quoted as saying in a Cricket SA statement. “I just knew on that tour that I was done.”
Kallis scored five runs in three innings in the rubber, and did not bowl because of a back problem. In fact, he made just one 50 in his last 10 ODI innings. Who would not want Kallis in their team? But who would want Kallis in the form he has shown recently?
Clearly, what he described yesterday as “an amazing journey” was over. Almost.
“I am not retiring from all cricket as I have a two-year contract with the Sydney Thunder (team) and, if possible, (I would like) to help the Kolkata Knight Riders defend the IPL (Indian Premier League) title we won earlier this year.”
Kallis will always be a giant of the game in SA and the world, and it is to his credit that he has been big enough to walk away without, as far as is known, being pushed.
As odd as it sounds, this is good news for SA’s World Cup planning. Now selection convenor Andrew Hudson and coach Russell Domingo do not have to have a contingency ready, which would have been the case had Kallis kept himself in the mix without SA knowing whether he would have been ready, willing or able to make it to the tournament. The elephant has left the room.
The issue has been settled with enough time and match practice remaining before SA play their first game of the World Cup against Zimbabwe in Hamilton on March 15.
As matters stand, Faf du Plessis looks likely to replace Kallis at number three in the batting order, but that decision does not have to be made right now.
SA begin a series of three ODIs in Zimbabwe on August 17. Then they stay north of the Limpopo to play a triangular that also involves Australia. That will be followed by two ODI games in New Zealand, and five in Australia. So, there are plenty of opportunities for Du Plessis to prove himself the right man for the job.
Even though it is too soon to panic, Kallis’ retirement will make some people want to do just that. They should ask themselves: what would Jacques do?
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