He has opened his mind and his array of strokes, and South Africa’s limited-overs teams have opened their arms for him
Simon Borchardt22-Sep-2009The accumulator is now the dominator. Caution has been replaced with confrontation, and a fear of failure with a freedom of expression. Introducing the new, improved Jacques Kallis, South Africa’s greatest post-apartheid batsman. Fully adaptable to Test, ODI and Twenty20 cricket. Able to stamp his authority on a match, put doubt into the minds of opposition bowlers and entertain the crowds.This hasn’t always been the case with Kallis, which is why he is yet to join Brian Lara, Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting in the elite group of modern batting greats. Instead he has been relegated to another, less illustrious group of batsmen, who have superb international records but haven’t quite done enough to earn godlike status. The best of the rest, you could call them.Unfair? Perhaps, but Kallis has been guilty in the past of batting himself into a position from which he could move into fifth gear, only to keep going along in fourth. Often this was because his role as South Africa’s anchorman demanded a safety-first approach and he received little support from other batsmen in the side. However there were times when he had only himself to blame for failing to play an innings that would really make the cricketing world sit up and take notice – something like Brian Lara’s 277 at the SCG in 1993.Much has been made of Kallis’ failure to score a Test double-century, yet he could have easily reached that mark as long ago as September 2001 against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. When South Africa declared their first innings closed on 519 for 8, Kallis had reached 189 not out in a 443-ball knock that lasted over nine-and-a-half hours. Had he batted at a strike-rate of 45.10, instead of 42.66, he’d have reached 200 and got that monkey off his back early in his career. And he should have, considering Heath Streak was the only world-class bowler he faced during that innings and rain over the first two days meant the Test was always going to end in a draw. You can’t help but feel that had the Kallis of 2009 faced those 443 balls, he would have become the first South African to score a Test triple-century. He would have made it count.Kallis’ conservative approach wasn’t only restricted to Test cricket. He also often had to hold South Africa’s ODI line-up together. Yet there were times when he could have played without the weight of the world on his shoulders, but chose not to.At the 2007 World Cup, for example, he scored 48 off 63 balls against Australia in a group game when 378 were needed for victory. When Kallis came to the crease, South Africa were looking good at 160 for 1 after 21 overs. When he was dismissed in the 44th over, they were 277 for 7 and the game was gone.The barrage of criticism Kallis received after that loss almost certainly played a part in the wild shot that had him bowled for 5 by Glenn McGrath in the semi-final rematch. He was trying to prove a point that day but found himself ill-equipped to do so.Later that year Kallis’ one-day career nosedived even further when he was omitted from South Africa’s World Twenty20 squad, albeit after then-Cricket SA president Norman Arendse allegedly got involved in the selection process. Kallis was furious and promptly resigned as the team’s vice-captain, but on some level he must have known that he had not helped himself through his performances in the middle. It became clear that if he wanted to become indispensable to South Africa in all three forms of the game, he would have to reinvent himself.
Kallis scored 189 not out in a 443-ball knock against Zimbabwe in 2001. Had he batted at a strike-rate of 45.10, instead of 42.66, against an attack whose only world-class bowler was Heath Streak, he’d have reached 200 and got that monkey off his back early in his career
“I wanted to improve my batting in the one-day formats and looked long and hard at making a few technical changes,” recalls Kallis. “Mickey Arthur and [mentor] Duncan Fletcher helped me make the necessary adjustments, but I’ll admit it was a lot of hard work.”Arthur says Kallis had no choice but to ditch the anchor role that he’d performed for the one-day side. “The ODI game has changed drastically over the past few years and totals of 250 or 260 are no longer good enough,” says Arthur. “It helps that we have guys like AB de Villiers and Graeme Smith doing well, but we also wanted Jacques to express himself more and take more risks. I’ve always believed Jacques could give another 10-20% of himself from an attacking perspective, and he has done exactly that recently.”There is a perception that Jacques is a slow batsman, which is because he’s always performed a specific role for this team,” Arthur continues. “I challenged him to change his approach. We worked long and hard and you can see the results in his limited-overs form, especially in Twenty20 cricket.”Kallis had just 43 runs to his name after four international Twenty20 appearances going into this year’s World Twenty20, yet he was South Africa’s top-scorer in the tournament, with 238 runs in five matches, at a strike-rate of 126.59 (behind only AB de Villiers and Albie Morkel).Kallis opened the batting with Graeme Smith, having been successful in that position during the IPL, and adapted effortlessly to the various match situations. When facing Scotland’s pie-chuckers in their first match, he chanced his arm a bit and smashed 48 off 31 balls, with de Villiers (79 not out off 34) continuing the onslaught. Kallis played a similar innings against West Indies (45 off 31), receiving good support from Herschelle Gibbs (55 off 35). However, against England, when South Africa needed just 112 to win, Kallis chose to torture the bowlers instead of bludgeoning them, scoring 57 not out off 49 balls. In the semi-final against Pakistan, the loss of early wickets forced him to play more measuredly, yet he still finished with 64 off 54.A few weeks earlier, Kallis had played an important part in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s surprise march to the IPL final, making 361 runs in 15 appearances at a strike-rate of 108.73 (compared to the 199 runs he scored for them in 11 matches in 2008).One of his best IPL performances came in Bangalore’s second-last match of the league stage, against Delhi Daredevils in Jo’burg, which they had to win to stay in semi-final contention. Chasing a target of 135, they made a poor start when Robin Uthappa got out in the first over. Kallis, though, made 58 not out off 56 balls, effectively sealing the win in the 18th over by launching Daniel Vettori for a six and a four (further evidence that he can now turn it on when he has to).”When I saw the way Kallis batted in that match, I just knew he would be there at the end of the innings,” Mike Procter, South Africa’s chairman of selectors, told Cricinfo. “Throughout the tournament he scored quickly when he had to, and made some big scores. It’s evident how much he has learnt.”Kallis says he was always willing to make changes to his game. “As a player, you are constantly looking for new challenges; it’s what keeps you fresh. I had always adopted a more conservative role, so it was great to be given the freedom to dominate a bowling attack.In the second edition of the IPL, Kallis was instrumental in Bangalore’s run to the final•Associated Press”I’ve always said the anchor role was boring, as I was effectively doing the donkey work. I knew I could be more aggressive, so I was thrilled to be handed this new challenge.”Kallis’s mind-shift was relatively simple. He focused on giving himself more space, which allowed him to hit the ball further. “It took a while to come right and I only really started to click in the IPL,” he says. “I think I understand the structure of Twenty20 cricket a lot better now. Last year I learnt some harsh lessons, but it was a necessary part of the process.”Kallis also realised that Twenty20 cricket was a unique form of the game and required a different mindset. “You are never going to consistently make runs in Twenty20s, so when you do fail, you can’t let it stop you from taking risks in future,” he explains.His focus has shifted back to the 50-over game with the Champions Trophy. Having been part of the South Africa side that flopped at the 2003 World Cup, and missed out on the World Twenty20 in 2007, he now has one last opportunity to get his hands on some major silverware in front of his home fans.”I’m very excited about the tournament,” he says. “We are the No. 1 ODI side in the world and we’ll be playing in familiar conditions. Winning the Champions Trophy would give us a big boost ahead of the 2011 World Cup.”Kallis’ recent ODI form with the bat has been impressive. In eight matches against Australia last season, he strung together scores of 41, 72, 60 and 13 Down Under (at an overall strike-rate of 81.22) and then 31, 70, 17 and 64 at home (at 82.35). The only criticism that could be levelled at him is that he didn’t convert one of those four fifties into a century, but don’t be surprised if he reaches three figures at some stage during the Champions Trophy.”The best thing about Jacques’ recent achievements is that he still has a desire to get even better,” says Arthur. “I feel massively encouraged going into the Champions Trophy with him thriving in his new role. He’s going to make a big impact.”