Full name         : Jacques Henry Kallis

 Born                 : 16 October 1975, Pinelands, Cape Town, Cape Province

 Current age     : 31 years  

 Major teams    : South Africa, Africa XI, Glamorgan, ICC World XI, Middlesex

 Batting style    : Right handed Batsman

 Bowling style   : Right-arm fast-medium





Kallis, an elegant batsman and a nippy bowler, is a South African cricketer. One of the best all-rounders in the modern game, he is a dogged right-handed batsman and muscular fast-medium bowler who can swing the ball both ways off a good line and length. As of September 2006 he became the only cricketer in the history of the game to hold more than 8,000 runs and 200 wickets in both Test and One Day International cricket. Often criticised for his apparent unwillingness to dominate the opposition, Kallis is otherwise a consummate cricketer.

Kallis 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 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.


Jacques Kallis moved his way to stardom with some superlative performances. Kallis is only the third player in Test history. Kallis was awarded the captaincy of South Africa for the third and final Test match against Australia in 2006 when Graeme Smith stood down with an injury. This was Kallis' 99th Test match.




In 2005 he set the record for the fastest half-century, as measured by balls faced, in Test cricket history, scoring 50 against Zimbabwe off only 24 balls. That Kallis holds this record belies his reputation as a defensive, unadventurous batsman of the old-fashioned type. Regardless of style, Kallis has a very impressive batting average of over 55, and is rated as one of the best batsmen in the world. Although still a very capable bowler with over 200 Test wickets, he has impressed mostly with the bat in recent years.

He is easily the best all-rounder in the test cricket at present. Jacques Kallis has years of cricket left in him to dig his roots deeper into the hallowed ground of cricketing legends.