Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
I had to wait more than a decade, but I finally pierced the ‘bubble’of Jacques Kallis
Cricket writer ZAAHIER ADAMS pays tribute to legendary South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis IT was October 10, 1994. Western Province were hosting Transvaal at Newlands in the annual Protea Assurance Challenge Match on Kruger Day, then a national holiday.
Province were in a spot of bother at 89/3 when a scrawnylooking teenager walked out to the crease to play his first official match for WP.
Although only six days shy of his 19th birthday, the young man had a flawless technique with his high-elbow being particularly impressive when play- ing the cover drive. He simply seemed to have just that fraction more time than his batting partner – WP’s other prodigy, Sven Koenig.
Upon reaching his maiden half-century, against an attack including seasoned Currie Cup campaigners like Dean Laing, Stephan Jacobs and Rowan Lyle, with an audacious backfoot cover drive over extra cover that sailed over the ropes for six, I – only 12 years old at the time – asked my father who this new “star” was and where he was from.
“That’s Jacques Kallis,” my dad responded. “He has just matriculated from Wynberg Boys’ High, the same high school you will be attending next year.”
Beaming from ear-to-ear, my first experience of watching the man who would go on to become South Africa’s all-time greatest cricketer just became a little sweeter.
There were many such anecdotes at the “JK Tribute Dinner” in the city on Thursday. And despite having the privilege of watching him from media centres at stadiums as far flung as the Beauséjour Stadium on the Caribbean island of St Lucia to Lord’s in London for the best part of a decade, they were a lot more poignant and from people far closer to Kallis that I ever was.
His only sister, Janine, told a telling story of how he treated her more like a brother growing up and how she played every sport imaginable with him in the garden with their father Henry observing closely.
Wynberg Boys’ High outgoing headmaster Keith Richardson conveyed how he had convinced then- WP chief executive Arthur Turner to keep Kallis at Newlands after offers from Boland and Border had landed on his desk, only for Arthur to respond: “Let him go, we’ll just buy him back!”
Kallis would only swap Newlands for the Eastern Cape much later in his career, with Richardson ultimately convincing Arthur to secure the young man’s signature with a R1000per-month contract to remain at WP.
Former Springbok centre Robbie Fleck, who was a junior school teammate of Kallis, also revealed what a talented and dedicated rugby player he was before two of Jacques’ greatest mentors and friends, Duncan Fletcher and Gary Kirsten, told a full house of why they thought he was such a special individual – and nothing had to do with his cricket abilities.
The highlight of the evening for me was not listening to everyone speaking about Kallis. It was actually more what he had to say.
I’ve interviewed Kallis on numerous occasions and more often than not, he appears to be in that “bubble”– just as when he was batting – which no reporter or Brett Lee could pierce.
That “bubble” has often given off the perception that Kallis is an aloof character; that he doesn’t have the warmth to appeal to the masses, and therefore his deeds have not always been appreciated to its full effect.
On Thursday, though, I saw a side of him that demolished all those perceptions as he “opened up” and spoke with refreshing honesty and freedom in almost the same manner in the way he batted during the twilight of his Test career.
He was particularly passionate about his JK Foundation and what it means to him to provide young South Africans with the opportunity to further their education at some of the finest institutions in the country.
Kallis will be revered for his statistics and for his performances on the cricket field. His numbers are unlikely to ever be surpassed in our lifetimes. My admiration, stretching from that first day at Newlands 21 years ago, has only been increased by the moving way he spoke about his foundation.