South African legend and all-rounder Jacques Kallis has been appointed as the batting consultant for the Sri-Lanka tour Test of England, announced ECB.
Kallis secured his status as an all-time great, an all-rounder with 13,206 Test runs at 55.37 for South Africa, in addition to 292 wickets, while his mastery of adopting Asian conditions is renowned, with eight centuries at 55.62 in 25 Tests for his country.
But England Cricket Board (ECB) is yet to confirm that if the appointment will go beyond the Sri Lanka Tour and will also continue for England’s tour of India as well.
However, there is no notice regarding Kallis’ participation for England’s subsequent Test tour of India as he is not expected for that tour, though ECB may change the decision, as ECB requires to flag the need to rotate their options for the foreseeable and to mitigate against the strain of living, practising and playing in bio-secure environments.
Though the discussions between Kallis and the ECB are considered to have taken place earlier this month, and is stated as “very quick and simple”.
Kallis will be joined by supporting staff members comprising of Jon Lewis for fast bowling, Jeetan Patel for spin and James Foster for wicket-keeping.
Kallis is expected to join the squad before travelling to Hambantota on 2nd January 2021, ahead of their one of the first of two Tests against Sri Lanka in Galle starting from 14th January 2021. But Graham Thorpe, Chris Silverwood’s assistant will not travel to Sri Lanka but is expected to join for the marquee India tour that begins on February.
Before this, Kallis was appointed as the head coach of IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders in 2015 and also operated as KKR’s batting consultant during the season.
However a new concern regarding the feasibility of tour has been seen, as a new strain of coronavirus has surfaced in the UK, but ECB spokesperson has told that “We continue to plan as normal. We have regular meetings with Sri Lanka and there is another meeting planned for this week.”
