The Last Man Standing

This year we have said goodbye to two big all-rounders; at least in the Test arena. England’s talismanic Andrew Flintoff bowed out of Test cricket with one final act of Aussie bashing by scoring a direct hit to send Ricky Ponting packing with the ignominious title of the first Australian skipper to surrender the Ashes twice. Afterwards, pundits and fans took to the task of summing up how good or “great” he was. Despite the Summer of 2005, Flintoff would be the first to agree that he wasn’t a great all-rounder but an all-rounder he was. Cricket must have been quite fascinating when the world had Hadlee, Imran, Kapil and Botham playing Jekyll and Hyde – a fine spell of bowling one day followed by a willow wielding massacre the next. More than his statistics, it was Flintoff’s enigmatic personality that drew the crowds and blew down the stumps and such qualities are hard to quantify.

Just a few hours ago, after much speculation, another heavily built all-rounder decided to call quits on the traditional form of the game. Jacob Oram played in a country renowned for producing commendable bits and pieces. Some would argue that Sir Richard Hadlee was the greatest all-rounder in the world but such an argument is worth its own time and space. Oram, like Freddie, suffered a string of injuries that made he’s dual role sporadic and all too brief. While many were excited at the prospect of the towering Oram, few ever witnessed what he could have offered cricket lovers of all types. With the grueling schedule of International cricket, coupled with the induction of cash cow club cricket, someone was bound to suffer. Would it be the injury prone pace man? The dexterous spin wizards? Or the low-hunching gloves man? Oram’s take is the “all-rounder.” Exhausted, unsustainable and doomed to extinction.

While cricket continue to produce a fair amount of bits and pieces, the search for the “real thing” remains elusive for most nations. But against the furor over the future, one man remains, unassuming, tested by time, supported by numbers with gloss of class. Some say he’s selfish, unattractive and one-dimensional but the reality remains that Jacque Kallis could be the last “great” all-rounder. The solid backbone of South African cricket for the past 15 years, Kallis has accumulated an impressive glut of runs, wickets and catches to boot. True, there is more International cricket today than there ever was but that doesn’t dampen his achievements, it exalts them. For over a decade, he has scored 31 Test hundreds and bagged 258 Test victims across the board, against all-comers. The fact that he has 10,000 runs and 250 wickets in ODI cricket further expounds what a valuable asset he has been to the cricketing world.

Kallis has his critics who have gathered plenty of ammunition to shoot down any attempt to laud the title “great” on his career. He started as a young robust middle-order player who had the responsibility of holding a fragile line-up together. Kallis has stood firm in the midst of calamitous collapses and has played his part in many disappointments. In the shorter form, his innings were hardly memorable as he starved the opposition bowlers and allowed his more explosive compatriots to take the team home. In the late 90s, he would open the bowling hurtling down white cherries at 90 miles an hour and chip away at the crumbs left behind by Shaun Pollock and Allan Donald. At slip he would be as dependable as any of the modern greats, from Mark Waugh to Mahela Jayawardene.

Much of the Kallis we have imprinted in our minds was “Kallis the wall” but that comparison hasn’t granted him much credit as it has for Rahul Dravid. While he did play alongside Gary Kirsten and Daryll Cullinan, Kallis was always the stabilizer. This mantle often called him to cut down on his repertoire of strokes and made his runs less appealing for audiences to watch but as soon as he rocked onto his back foot and drove through the covers, we were reminded of how gifted he truly was.

Like all sportsmen, Kallis went through his highs and lows. He had a fair share of Bradmanesque years followed by less impressive showings. Having gone through a few injuries himself, he’s bowling became less of a force and had to be handled with care. At the end of 2007, Kallis and close friend Mark Boucher highlighted their goals before retirement. One was to win a world title, which South Africa had just surrendered in a few moments of madness to the eventual winners Australia. Kallis’ dismissal to McGrath on that fateful day was thought to be the pivotal moment where South Africa loss the plot. With the advent of T20, many thought he would be called to carry the drinks as the young men made merry. He has a dismal first outing in the Indian Premier League which seemed to justify his exclusion from the South Africa T20 squad a year earlier. Yet with the evolution of South African cricket, Kallis himself was able to expand his boundaries and play without the constraints that had made him the accumulator we knew him to be.

After their World Cup woes in both shorter forms of the game, South Africa set about a master plan that would help them win key battles in the Test arena and prepare them for the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent. The plan was a commitment to form an all-round Test outfit that could challenge any team, anywhere in the world. South Africa followed up victories at home with impressive showings in Pakistan, India, England and Australia. It is difficult to imagine such success without the balance Kallis provided. He played his part to perfection; batting with the perfect blend of aggression and defense that was overshadowed by a middle-order made up of AB, JP, Amla and Prince. His counter-attack on Peter Siddle and Jason Krejza was instrumental in South Africa’s monumental chase of 414 at Perth, which in turn helped the Proteas win their first series in Australia –a tick off “professional goals” for Kallis and Boucher. He found pace and swing when it was required, giving no respite to the opposition when Steyn, Ntini and Morkel went off to recharge their batteries. He also held onto the tough chances to ensure the trio’s hard work never went unrewarded.

After a two grueling battles with Australia, Kallis began showing off his limited over prowess at the World T20 in England and a few short innings at the Champions Trophy. There is definitely something different in the way Kallis has batted this year. He has been given the license to express himself and the early signs look promising. With the Champions League, World T20 and World Cup to come, Kallis has plenty of opportunities to showcase his catalog of strokes. As Flintoff and Oram leave the stage; their predecessor is opening a new front. When he lays down that weary frame, it could mark the end of the “true all-rounder.” With regards to how good or “great” of an all-rounder he was will rage on like the chokers’ tag or Murali vs Warne. His critics won’t be won easily but Kallis could care less. He prefers to do the talking on the field and we wouldn’t have it any other way.