Jacques Kallis
|
|
Jacques Henry Kallis (born 16 October 1975 in Cape Town) is a South African cricketer. An all-rounder, he is a right-handed batsman and a very capable right-arm fast-medium bowler who can swing the ball both ways off a good line and length.
The gifted all-rounder made his first-class debut in 1993/94 as an 18 year old, playing for Western Province. His first test appearance was in December 1995 against England at Durban, but he struggled to score with the bat in his first few matches. His breakthrough came in 1997 with 61 against Pakistan, but more notably two matches later when he salvaged a draw for South Africa with a fighting century against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In 2004 he became only the second player in test history (after Donald Bradman) to make a century in five consecutive innings. On 5 March 2005, Kallis set the record for the fastest half-century as measured by balls bowled in Test cricket history, scoring 50 against Zimbabwe off only 24 balls. At the time of writing (4 March 2005), Kallis has a batting average of 55, and is rated as one of the best batsmen in the world. Although still a very capable bowler with over 160 test wickets, he has featured more with the bat in recent years.