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Amazing amazing player - SA were truly blessed to have him and Pollock in the same side ; both somehow underrated

He is going to be very tough for SA to replace, it will be interesting to see what they do with the balance of the side.

The fact that his carrying on in the ODI's means he must be playing the WC in Aus

He was a fine player and will be a big hole to fill for South Africa. As a player he is certainly due respect but he is not someone who I warmed to. I suspect many fans didn't and this is why he is under appreciated.

Farewell jacques IMO the greatest all-rounder of all time!

m@tt wrote:

SaintPowelly wrote:Greatest all-rounder ever in my eyes ( sorry Sobers )

Definitely seems the right time to go now though, enjoy your retirement Jacques.

The Dravid of all-rounders? Goes about his brilliance quietly, is possibly a tad under appreciated, and doesn't stand out as much as flashier players (Sobers being flashy, as well as brilliant).

I don't quite agree that Kallis was a greater allrounder than Sobers, though....

I was always taught that you subtract your bowling average from your batting average to get the statistical assessment of how great an allrounder is, and on that basis Sobers just edges Kallis.

Kallis, batting 55.12, bowling 32.53 = 22.59

Sobers, batting 57.78, bowling 34.03 = 23.75

But no other allrounder in the history of Test cricket comes close on that statistical assessment....

Happy Retirement Sir!

Bradman: 99.94-36.00 = 63.94.

mikesiva wrote:

m@tt wrote:

SaintPowelly wrote:Greatest all-rounder ever in my eyes ( sorry Sobers )

Definitely seems the right time to go now though, enjoy your retirement Jacques.

The Dravid of all-rounders? Goes about his brilliance quietly, is possibly a tad under appreciated, and doesn't stand out as much as flashier players (Sobers being flashy, as well as brilliant).

I don't quite agree that Kallis was a greater allrounder than Sobers, though....

I was always taught that you subtract your bowling average from your batting average to get the statistical assessment of how great an allrounder is, and on that basis Sobers just edges Kallis.

Kallis, batting 55.12, bowling 32.53 = 22.59

Sobers, batting 57.78, bowling 34.03 = 23.75

But no other allrounder in the history of Test cricket comes close on that statistical assessment....

Sobers 93 tests..Kallis 166

Kallis retires as the best cricketer South Africa has ever produced.

We don't really worship heroes in South Africa to the extent other nations often do with sportstars or movie stars, I suppose it is in our culture to be more humble and reserved.

We do however value sportsmen who retain a sense of humility whilst achieving great hights such as what Kallis has attained.

He will be greatly missed and I for one am very proud to be a countryman to one of th greatest test players of all time.

Nice to read a tribute from a South African biltongbek. Cheers.

Can certainly be listed as one of the best alltounders ever but not the best . That mantle will always be applied to Sobers imo. Kallis may not even have been better than Proctor if we had a meaningful comparison but certainly a very fine player and will be sorely missed by SA.

A fitting farewell to the greatest cricketer I've seen as he bows out with a win and a ton in his final test..

Yes, the greatest all-rounder of the modern era. Good to see him hit a century in his final test too.

Always felt that Kallis could have been more than he was, but that is no criticism. When younger and when he had more nip he could have featured in any attack, and its maybe not beneficial to his figures that Kallis was the 5th bowler. For me he could have been one of the best old ball bowlers around, he swung it both ways and had the ability draw batsman further and further across their stumps, then throw the inswing killer ball in. He seamed it and was very tidy! His style of bowling worked better in long bursts to set batters up though, and operating as a 5th bowler he often never got the time or overs to take the wickets that would have reflected better. It would be a hard call on whether to take Kallis at his best or any of the current England pacers.

Obviously his batting is what he is known for though, and again you could say that, out of the usual suspects, he lacked the others flair but more than made up for it with rigidity. This is why he doesnt capture many hearts I guess

In recent years he seemed to do a lot of bowling wide of off stump to keep the runs down, allbeit with a good bouncer. I hated watching him bowl because he was so defensive, and it killed the spectacle, though to good affect for South Africa. Certainly he mainly bowled in that mode on his last England tour.

Arthur Crabtree wrote:In recent years he seemed to do a lot of bowling wide of off stump to keep the runs down, allbeit with a good bouncer. I hated watching him bowl because he was so defensive, and it killed the spectacle, though to good affect for South Africa. Certainly he mainly bowled in that mode on his last England tour.

His heart in his bowling gave way in later years. He never bowled with the same pace.