Jacques of all trades, and the master too

Kallis is an old dog who has learnt new tricks thanks to T20 but blushes at Pietersen claim that he's the best ever

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Towards the end of a love-in that doubled as a press briefing last week, Kevin Pietersen made a startling claim. He said: "I truly believe that Jacques Kallis is the greatest cricketer ever. He's just phenomenal." Some 3,305 men have played international cricket, 2,567 of them in Test matches, so at the very least Pietersen's assessment is an invitation to debate.

Kallis himself, who is less given to hyperbole than his friend Pietersen, said yesterday: "It was a great compliment but you've got to look at it in context. The stats might be there but we're playing a lot more cricket these days than the guys played in yesteryear and I'm sure their figures would have been the same and they would have achieved what modern players have. It's a compliment coming from him but I think if you play the game long enough you're going to have a few runs and wickets by your name, to be fair."

If Pietersen might have erred on the side of overstatement, that was probably an understatement of the matter. Kallis has been, still is, an extremely considerable cricketer indeed. He was 34 last month and remains alone among all-rounders of his generation in playing all forms of the game, and has appeared in 435 international matches.

While Pietersen was putting Kallis at the top of the pile, Ricky Ponting, the captain of Australia, said Shane Watson was now the world's leading all-rounder. Ponting was perhaps overlooking the fact that Watson, enormous strides though he has made, has spent much of his career being injured and has still barely made a mark on Test cricket.

Today Kallis plays his 10th Twenty20 match for South Africa. It is a form of the game that many would have spurned to preserve their careers elsewhere. In his case T20 might not only have prolonged his career but embellished it. He has become a different type of cricketer, particularly as a batsman, though he has added new tricks to his muscular seam bowling to confound what is said about old dogs.

For the bulk of an international career which began in 1995, Kallis was a formidable but restricted cricketer who never seemed to impose his will or to take games away from the opposition, almost as if he was afraid what might happen.

If he possessed other gears, the lever for changing them was often stuck. "The Twenty20 format has been a new challenge for me, it's something that has really helped me to develop my game," he said. "I have come a long way in the Twenty20 game and I think it will help my Test cricket and one-day cricket. I have learned some new stuff and my body's still fit enough. I really enjoy three formats."

It is the Indian Premier League which is probably to thank for it, as if to demonstrate that it is not the evil incarnate which will eventually destroy all other styles of the game. Kallis was signed by Bangalore Royal Challengers and struggled to adapt in the competition's inaugural season. But he persisted and this time he played a leading role in helping the Royal Challengers to the 2009 final.

Kallis has looked different because he is different. It had always been suspected that with his clean, orthodox but perpetually unhurried method he could be more assertive, and so he has been. Sometime in the next few weeks when he takes his second wicket in the one-day series, he will become the only player to have scored 10,000 runs and taken 250 wickets in both Tests and one-dayers.

"It's sad to see all-rounders giving up one form or another," he said. "To do both is tough and it's a worry going forward. Stuart Broad needs a bit more work on his batting to become the genuine article but definitely has the potential for it. We've got Ryan McLaren, he's a guy who could come through. There are a few of them around but it can take time to find your feet at international level."

The amount of cricket is the curse of the all-rounder, though in Kallis's case he would not have it any other way. He is struggling to bowl at present with a side strain but will not submit easily. "I'll definitely keep bowling," he said. "In Test cricket if I spent a day in the field without bowling I would feel like it's two days, and in 50-over cricket it feels like that. There is so much international cricket but when you're playing in an environment that's really enjoyable like we have at the moment, it does make it easier."

South Africa, under captain Graeme Smith and coach Mickey Arthur, look unified. Despite the result of the opening Twenty20 match on Friday night, when England won by a run after rain curtailed South Africa's chase, the home side will begin as favourites in the one-day and Test series.

It delights Kallis that the side are now No 1. "Sometimes it's easier getting there than staying there," he said. "We haven't been there too long and we're still working out how to stay ahead of the pack. Everyone wants to knock you off and we've had a few discussions about how to stay there but as a senior player it's nice to be on top when you've worked your whole life to get there, and it's a fantastic feeling to do it after beating two of the best sides in their own country, England and Australia."

He might not quite be the greatest cricketer ever but it is a near thing, and to beat South Africa this winter England must overcome Jacques Kallis.