Curiosity over Kallis

By Peter van Onselen

 

Jacques Kallis is South Africa’s greatest ever cricketer. But his withdrawal from South Africa’s Champions Trophy campaign for ‘personal reasons’ has left many people with more questions than answers. Watching him slay the best bowlers in the world all over the park in the Indian Premier League has left me frustrated. I would be the first one to sing King Kallis’ praises having dedicated his illustrious career to the Proteas, which is what makes his current decision so peculiar. He’s played an instrumental role in South Africa being the top ranked test and one day team over the past few years. 

 

Kallis was just 23 years-old when the Proteas won the inaugural ICC Champions Trophy in 1998, since then, South Africa have failed to win an ICC sanctioned one day tournament. One would have thought that Kallis would board the next plane out of India to sort out his ‘personal problems’ in order to be ready for the Champions Trophy in England and Wales, which starts on the 6th of June. Being a gentleman of the game, it’s clear that South Africa’s greatest ever cricketer is looking after his financial needs ahead of national duty. Surely he’s earned enough money over the past 18 years to set aside a few weeks of the IPL, go home and address the ‘personal issues’, and set his sights on winning the 2013 Champions Trophy? 

 

Kallis’ legacy is there for everyone to see. His stats speak for themselves and he’s done enough in his career that he could make any decision and he would still be lauded as a legend. He’s played in 321 ODIs, scoring 15,756 runs and taking 270 wickets. It’s just a great pity that seeing him in such good form in the IPL will end in him missing Gary Kirsten’s final tournament in charge and with the unpredictability of the one day game possibly seeing him miss out on the opportunity for a Champions League victory.

 

Strange and disappointing.