Test Debut: South Africa v
England at Durban, 3rd Test, 1995
Major Teams: Glamorgan, Middlesex, South Africa, Western Province Cape Cobra’s, Kolkata Knight Ryders, Royal Challenges Bangalore and
Sydney Thunder.
A promising rugby fly-half as a teenager, Kallis could
just as easily have been starring for the Springboks as the Proteas.
After a distinctly ordinary start to his Test career,
Jacques Kallis blossomed into one of the world’s leading batsmen. An immensely
talented top-order batsman, Kallis started slowly in international cricket, but
gradually made the demanding no.3 batting position his own, showing a great
degree of comfort against pace bowling off either the front or back foot. He
was also a surprisingly fast opening bowler, able to swing the ball either way
at pace and intimidating batsmen with his steel-blue stare.
Born in 1975 in Pinelands, Cape Town, Kallis made his
international debut just two months after his 20th birthday and scored a single
first innings run against England at Durban. It was two years later, in his
seventh Test, that the young allrounder made his first century and it was
another year, following a season in the English County Championship with
Middlesex, before his bowling became as formidable a weapon as his skill with
the bat.
He starred on the Proteas tour of England in 1998 and
was man of the series in South Africa’s Five-Test sweep of the West Indies in
1998/99, taking his first five-wicket haul against Brian Lara’s side at his
home ground Newlands in Cape Town. During this period Jacques was considered to
be the best all-rounder in World Cricket.
In his last test match, which was the 2nd test in
Durban on December 26 2013, Jacques scored 115 against India.
Represented exclusively in
conjunction with Maestro Sports Management.