Ken Borland

Former South African captain Graeme Smith yesterday described Jacques Kallis as “a really stubborn man” but praised his honesty in realising he had come to the end of his career and announcing his retirement from all international cricket.

The 38-year-old Kallis, statistically the greatest all-round cricketer the game has seen, retired from Test cricket in December but had indicated his desire to continue playing one-day internationals for South Africa, with an eye on having one more crack at the World Cup in February/March 2015.

But a poor tour of Sri Lanka, where Kallis scored just five runs in three innings and did not bowl due to niggling injuries, has convinced South Africa’s leading run-scorer in both Tests and ODIs to end his international career.

Smith, who himself retired at the end of the summer, has been close to Kallis for more than a decade and only 11 of his 117 Tests were played without his friend beside him at slip.

“Jacques is a really stubborn man but I think that stubbornness must have run out! But one can only appreciate his honesty because he really wanted to win the World Cup, but he knew he would struggle to maintain the levels required, especially in terms of bowling and mentally, and he didn’t want to let the side down. He’s also given the team enough space tactically to fill his gap with other guys,” Smith said yesterday.

A relaxed-looking Smith, fresh off a family holiday, said retirement would take some getting used to for Kallis, who has spent the last 19 years excelling on cricket fields all over the world.

“I’ve just been through it and it’s a bit daunting really,” Smith said. “You’re no longer earning a salary – my electricity got cut off! – and you’ve just known one way of living for the last 19 years. Until the next stage of his life falls into place, he deserves the time and space to find his feet.”

In 166 Tests, Kallis scored 13 289 runs  (the third most) at an average of 55.37 and claimed 292 wickets. He also took 200 catches and no other player has scored over 10 000 runs and taken more than 200 wickets.

In 328 ODIs, Kallis made 11 579 runs at an average of 44.36 and took 273 wickets.

“It’s always difficult to compare players from different eras, but if you consider the amount of cricket Jacques played, the length of consistency at the top of the game and all the different conditions and challenges he performed in, then he’s got to be up there with the best who’ve ever played the game. In time, I’m sure his reputation will only go from strength to strength,” Smith said.

“It used to irritate me when we started a season and Jacques had hardly picked up a bat in months, and he’d get into the nets and every ball would come out of the middle of the bat, while the rest of us were scratching around. I remember him hitting five centuries in a row [v West Indies & NZ in 2003/4] which was incredible, his two hundreds in a game against India and his century at Newlands on a tough pitch when he had a side strain. Jacques had a great ability under pressure to get stuck in and he was so reliable.”

Kallis remains committed to playing T20 cricket for the Sydney Thunder and Kolkata Knight Riders, but Smith agreed that once he had retired from Test cricket, a quick end to his international career was inevitable.

“Focus is very crucial at international level and I guess Jacques had to ask himself if his mind is really on it anymore. It’s hard to maintain intensity without playing regularly and it takes a lot of hard work to get to the required levels. When you’re playing full-time, it’s definitely easier.

“I hope there’s going to still be real respect for what he achieved, we can celebrate and look back fondly on an incredible career. He brought so much happiness and South African cricket got so much value out of him through so many eras,” Smith said.

Cricket South Africa CEO Haroon Lorgat said Kallis had decided to retire after returning from Sri Lanka and spending the last two weeks mulling his future.

“It dawned upon him in Sri Lanka that his mind and body might no longer be fit enough to get him to the World Cup, and he said he had some thinking to do, so he prepared us for his retirement.

“In my book, he is one of the best cricketers ever and he has left as a legend. He was the consummate professional and naturally we are going to miss him because I don’t see any other three-in-one cricketers of his calibre,” Lorgat said.

Henry Davids had a busy start to the season. In September he was appointed as the Nashua Titans’ new captain for the four-day Sunfoil Series and October saw him making an international name for himself as he finished as one of the top 5 run-scorers in the Champions League T20 extravaganza.

And the 32-year-old wouldn’t have it any other way. For Davids, playing cricket is chiefly for the sheer enjoyment of the game and, even if he gets knocked over early, he believes in playing with a smile on his face.

“My aim is to go out and enjoy myself and to win games for the Titans. I’m big on enjoying the game, that should stay the same whether you score nought or a hundred. Obviously you’re disappointed if you get out for a duck, but you must try not to show it,” Davids says.

Davids was born in Stellenbosch and made his first-class debut for Boland against the New Zealanders in Paarl in 2000/01 and played for the Cobras for six seasons before his career prospects became inert in the Cape and he moved up north to join the Titans in 2010. And he says he’s having the time of his life in Centurion.

“I was the leading run-scorer in the SuperSport Series in 2007/8 [817 @ 48.05] and I had a good season thereafter as well, before breaking my finger and tearing ligaments and then being dropped. I was very confused as to why I had been dropped, but I wasn’t really enjoying my cricket in Cape Town and there were a lot of things going on around the team.

“I was looking for a different challenge and the best cricketing decision was to come to the Titans, a very healthy and successful franchise. I got along with the guys very well and I’m enjoying my cricket the most now,” Davids says.

There has always been an air of adventure in Davids’ batting but, as a senior player now with nearly a hundred first-class games under his belt, he is intent on playing the percentages better.

“I concentrate a lot on the basics now. Anyone can play a cover-drive, but the most difficult thing is getting in and building an innings. To do that, you need to do the little things right,” he says.

Davids has recently also been contributing with some under-rated off-breaks, having been a quick bowler at school before suffering a stress fracture in his back. By then he had already established himself as a bright young batting star, having played in the CocaCola Khaya Majola Week for three years.

And the father of two girls admits that his talent has sometimes only flickered in franchise cricket.

“I’d still like to fulfil my full potential, I haven’t always done it justice in the past,” the scorer of 10 first-class centuries, four in List A and one in Twenty20, says.

But the burden of captaincy is certainly not increasing the pressure on Davids.

“I’ve only captained before at school and academy level, but I think I’ve learnt a lot about the game since my first-class debut in 2000. I guess my personality suits captaincy because I’m very calm and I don’t lose my temper. It’s a great challenge, but I love it. When Matthew Maynard [coach] spoke to me about being captain, he didn’t have to ask me twice. It’s an honour to captain a franchise with such a great history.”

The Davids family hail from the Cape Winelands town of Pniel and his father was a star of the Board leagues playing for the Coronation club.

“My dad was a wicketkeeper/opening batsman and, as a youngster, I thought I must just do the same. I started playing when I was six for the Coronation club’s U12 side,” Davids says.

And the diminutive batsman has had to overcome some early scarring to make it at first-class level.

“My first memory is playing on one of those coir mats, opening the batting  and getting hit on the head. I fell over on to the stumps as well … But I don’t get hit on the head a lot since then … the difference is I’ve learnt how to hook now,” Davids smiles.

A man of simple tastes, Davids says his family is his favourite hobby and his most valuable possession is his second daughter, Ashlyn, born on November 5.

“Being with my family is the best time of my life, I was brought up in a big family. I do enjoy the odd round of golf as well though … “ he says.

During that purple patch in 2007-2008, Davids played a couple of games for South Africa A, scoring a century against Sri Lanka A in Benoni, and he admits to still dreaming about playing international cricket, although he knows the chances are slim.

“Of course I still dream about it. The body’s still lasting, I’m in good nick, but I just want to go out and enjoy my cricket and win games for the Titans.”

After more than two months of limited-overs cricket, Davids is now turning his attention back to leading the Titans in the Sunfoil Series, beginning with a crunch game against the log-leading Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras in the Mother City from December 20. It will be a mammoth encounter between the defending champions and the team who won the competition the previous two seasons.

The Titans have had a lean time thus far in the competition, with just 13.32 points from a loss and a draw in their two matches.

But Davids is certain his team is up to the challenge of lifting themselves off the bottom of the log.

“We’ll just concentrate on getting the basics right and if we do that, we can beat any team. We’ve been playing in patches, we still haven’t hit our straps, but if we play to our full potential, then the sky’s the limit!”