Prince hails Kallis as 'one of the best of all time'

jacqueskallis

Kallis announced his retirement from all international cricket on Wednesday, just over seven months after standing down from Test duty.

The 38-year-old boasts a magnificent career record, having contributed 25,534 runs at international level in addition to 577 wickets.

His batting and bowling averages in Tests are similar to legendary West Indies all-rounder Sobers, and Prince - who played alongside Kallis for South Africa between 2002 and 2011 - feels his ex-colleague deserves to be ranked alongside the greatest to have played the game.

"I think obviously his stats would suggest that he is one of the best of all time, the Sobers of our generation," Prince told Perform.

"I think the only way you can describe Jacques is by really looking at what he brought and meant to a team.

"I think his bowling stats would suggest he could've played purely as an out-and-out bowler, and his batting stats are up there with the likes of [Sachin] Tendulkar and [Ricky] Ponting, so when it comes to batting alone he was up in the highest class of batsmen.

"And then when you look at his bowling stats I think he averages 29 or 30 [actually 32.65 in Tests], he could've played Test cricket just as a bowler. And if you put it all together, with his catching and his pure class, I think he is obviously he is definitely one of the greatest ever."

Although South Africa returned to the summit of the International Cricket Council's Test rankings this week in the absence of Kallis, Prince believes the veteran will ultimately prove to be impossible to replace.

"The SA team will obviously evolve - a lot of experienced senior players have retired in recent times so the team is evolving and eventually they will have a settled team," added Prince, who currently plays county cricket in England for Lancashire.

"But he is a once in a generation type of player, so while they will find a different balance to the team I think they will always miss a player like him  - an out-and-out batsman, who could assist the fast bowlers and make it into a four-pronged seam attack.

"He was a real bonus for South African cricket."

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