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Is Jacques Kallis THE greatest player ever??

  • 27-07-2018 1:25am
    #1
    y0ssar1an22
    Registered Users Posts: 15,909 ✭✭✭✭


    his stats speak for themselves. i've brought it up before, but stats wise,
    h'e's the 3rd best batsman ever (essentially ponting and brett lee combined )

    why is he always ignored ?


Comments

  • #2
    riffmongous
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 12,616 Mod ✭✭✭✭riffmongous


    Too quiet and unassuming I guess, and South Africa doesnt seem to have much international fan and media presence either when you think about it


  • #3
    Royale with Cheese
    Registered Users Posts: 8,972 ✭✭✭Royale with Cheese


    He has been accused of playing for his average rather than his team at times.

    Don't get me wrong though, he's one of the greats in my opinion. Best all rounder ever? Up there with Gary Sobers.


  • #4
    nompere
    Registered Users Posts: 1,675 ✭✭✭nompere


    His statistics are quite amazing. But count me among the non-admirers. My views are coloured by an innings of his I watched at the Oval in 2003.

    I've refreshed my memory with the aid of Cricinfo.

    About an hour before the close of the first day, South Africa were 339 for 2, Gibbs not out 181 and Kallis not out 26 (from 16 balls). The bowlers were tired - but when we walked back to Vauxhall station at the end of the day South Africa were 362 for 4, Kallis having moved on to 32 from 55 balls and McKenzie just out for 9 off 36 balls. I remember thinking that South Africa should have been close to 400 by the close.

    Over the next couple of days England wrapped up the South Africa innings for 484, then scored over 600 (Trescothick 219). England finally won by 9 wickets on the 5th day. One of the best tests I was ever at.

    I have always been convinced that the ultra-defensive attitude of Kallis over the last hour of that first day lay at the root of that defeat.


  • #5
    Beasty
    Administrators, Social & Fun Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 75,156 Admin ✭✭✭✭✭Beasty


    Don't think it's possible to compare players across different eras. Conditions/wickets change. Fitness changes, rules change, techniques change and opposition changes. Hence although you can make a case for Kallis in the current era, there is no pragmatic way to compare with the likes of Bradman, Sobers and even more recent stars like Richards, Botham and Tendulkar


  • #6
    byronbay2
    Registered Users Posts: 1,772 ✭✭✭byronbay2


    nompere wrote: »
    His statistics are quite amazing. But count me among the non-admirers. My views are coloured by an innings of his I watched at the Oval in 2003.

    I've refreshed my memory with the aid of Cricinfo.

    About an hour before the close of the first day, South Africa were 339 for 2, Gibbs not out 181 and Kallis not out 26 (from 16 balls). The bowlers were tired - but when we walked back to Vauxhall station at the end of the day South Africa were 362 for 4, Kallis having moved on to 32 from 55 balls and McKenzie just out for 9 off 36 balls. I remember thinking that South Africa should have been close to 400 by the close.

    Over the next couple of days England wrapped up the South Africa innings for 484, then scored over 600 (Trescothick 219). England finally won by 9 wickets on the 5th day. One of the best tests I was ever at.

    I have always been convinced that the ultra-defensive attitude of Kallis over the last hour of that first day lay at the root of that defeat.

    The last hour of play is a very dangerous time for a batsman. Light is fading, batting gets trickier. You don't want to lose your wicket when you could bat for the whole day in the sunshine tomorrow!

    I certainly wouldn't call Kallis ultra-defensive. Did you ever see Boycott bat in his hey-day? Kallis was very solid defensively and guarded his wicket prudently. In Test matches, he knew he had lots of time to make a score and played correctly imo: firstly tried to get in and then make a score when he had everything sized up. That is proper Test match batting! So many players come out swinging (20/20-style) these days and don't "mind" their wicket. He could accelerate when required but (obviously!) it was riskier and not his natural style.

    As Beasty said, it's wrong to compare players from different eras but fair to say that Sobers and Kallis were the two best all-rounders ever, apologies to Botham/Flintoff fans!


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  • #7
    axe2grind
    Registered Users Posts: 577 ✭✭✭axe2grind


    A career strike rate of 46 is quite respectable....and I am assuming we are talking test players.


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