Main manne
TEST MISSION: GET THE PROTEAS BACK INTO THE WORLD’S TOP THREE
From left, Proteas captain Faf du Plessis, coach Mark Boucher and batting consultant Jacques Kallis oversee a training session at SuperSport Park in Centurion yesterday.
Gallo Images
Seeing SA at the bottom of the heap was what motivated him to take up a coaching position.
Jacques Kallis hung up his boots six years ago when his seemingly insatiable appetite for runs had finally been sated, but in his new role as batting consultant for the Proteas, the 44-year-old all-time great now has the task of ensuring the current crop of South African batsmen, struggling as they have been of late, can collect bagfuls of runs for themselves this summer.
Kallis ended with a phenomenal tally of 13 289 Test runs, 11 579 in ODIs and nearly 20 000 in all first-class cricket. Never mind the hundreds of wickets he took. As a source of inspiration, there can be few better for the current Proteas. Arguably the greatest all-rounder in cricket history said yesterday that seeing South Africa at the bottom of the heap in the international game is what motivated him to take up a coaching position.
“It’s been a frustrating couple of years for everyone, to see where the Proteas have dropped to. We all want them to get back where we belong and I would love to help. I always say when I get involved in something that I want to leave it in a better place, the team was when I finished playing, but now it has dropped a bit. I want to get South Africa back in the topthree, that would give me so much pleasure.
“I think we’re on our way back up, the off-field stuff is now being taken care of. As a senior player you were almost like a coach, helping the younger guys, it’s a passion of mine, maybe even more than batting myself. I’ve been doing some T20 coaching, but there’s not much technical work you can do there, in Tests you can get stuck in for a longer period and can really make a difference,” Kallis said at SuperSport Park yesterday.
Even though South Africa’s batsmen have been through the mill recently, both home and abroad, Kallis is confident they can restore their confidence be
Picture: fore the first Test against England starts in Centurion.
“I think the batsmen have got confidence in South Africa, they have their gameplans in these conditions and we are a very different side here. They have greater knowledge of the pitches and they’ve hit lots of balls. We’ve done everything we can and if the Test started tomorrow we would be prepared, we’re just topping up now.
“If the guys are confident in their roles and where they are batting then it becomes much easier because they are calmer. They need to be comfortable in their roles, you want them to be flexible but you do need a blueprint for the batting. There are some really talented players and hopefully we can see the difference at the end of the summer,” Kallis said.