Jacques Kallis: the MVP of his generation
"Jacque Kallis is the greatest ever allrounder in my opinion. The international game will miss him. #Kallis"
Former England captain Michael Vaughan
"He became mister reliable, the game's going to miss him for sure."
Former Australia spinner Shane Warne
"The Garry Sobers of our generation."
Former India captain Rahul Dravid
"Been a privilege and an honour to have played alongside this living legend @jacqueskallis75 Congrats."
Kallis' South Africa team-mate, JP Duminy
"Well done on magnificent career @jacqueskallis75!! Great player, not a great watcher - remember Chittagong for 400+ partnership! See you in Oz!"
Kallis' South Africa team-mate, Johan Botha
Thanks number three, @jacqueskallis75. T'was a pleasure...
— Iain O'Brien (@iainobrien) July 30, 2014
"Congrats @jacqueskallis75 on a legendary career. One of the greats of the game. Was a honour sharing a field with you and the Proteas will miss you."
Kallis' South Africa team-mate, Faf du Plessis
"Congratulations to @jacqueskallis75 on a fantastic career. Best allrounder in our generation. Wish him well!"
Former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene
"He scored runs for fun, swung it both ways, could hit you in the head and had hands like buckets. Congrats @jacqueskallis75 #TheBest"
Former England captain Paul Collingwood
"Jacques Kallis - congratulations on a wonderful career. Quality cricket over a long period of time. One of the very best."
Former Australia fast bowler Jason Gillespie
Arguably the greatest ever cricketer retires...cricket will miss you, @jacqueskallis75!
— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) July 30, 2014
"Congrats @jacqueskallis75. It was a privilege to have shared the field with you. Enjoy retirement, you certainly deserve to."
Former South Africa batsman HD Ackerman
"One of the most influential cricketers of all time calls stumps, congratulations @jacqueskallis75 on an amazing career. #Legend"
Former Australia allrounder Tom Moody
"@jacqueskallis75 congrats on a magnificent career mate! Best ever!"
Former Australia quick Brett Lee
"Jacques Kallis. An absolute pleasure to play against you. An allrounder I always admired a lot. #legend"
Former Pakistan allrounder Azhar Mahmood
A sad day for SA Cricket, as #theking @jacqueskallis75 retire from international cricket. A legend!! #1ofthegreatsofalltime! #thankyou
— Alviro Petersen (@AlviroPetersen) July 30, 2014
"Congratulations to @jacqueskallis75 on a brilliant career. One of the game's greatest ever players and best allrounder of my era. #classact"
Former England captain Alec Stewart
"Most Valuable Player of our generation has called it quits from all forms of International cricket. An era has ended. Jacques 'Great' Kallis."
Former India batsman Aakash Chopra
"There are few cricketers who have made as big an impact as @jacqueskallis75 did in his career. Congratulations on your great career."
Former India allrounder Sanjay Bangar
Unbelievable cricketer! @jacqueskallis75
— simon jones (@si610) July 30, 2014
"What we were able to see as players was the man behind all the records. The aura in the change room, the calming influence on other players and the wonderfully subtle sense of humour, often in tight situations."
Kallis' South Africa team-mate Robin Peterson
Comments have now been closed for this article
jk you are the reason I love cricket
why cant south african crickwt board bit him WC2015??...same as BCCI did in 2011...I mean all greats deserve this...
An absolute professional to the core. Dependable, skilled and always reliable. World cricket will miss the great Kallis.
The purple patch he went in as a batsman 5 years ago landed him up @ 45 tons. We Indians were scared he wud overtake Tendlya's record. He wud have, probably, if he wud hv pursued Test Cricket for another 2 years, from his Test retirement date. That's the skill n ability of Jacques!!!
Most true all-rounders play like millionaires as they can afford to - being able to contribute in both disciplines. But not Kallis! His batting was unaffected by his bowling and bowling unaffected by his batting. A player of great mental strength, that took absolutely nothing for granted. A player that went about extracting the most of his ability in each discipline of this great game. Amazing!
You always know the great guys by the fact that th eopposition always wish them out/weren't playing etc. Kallis was always a huge thorn in every team's side, and he would never stop coming cos he can bat / bowl / field!
W/be in any world XI since ... when? Ever?
He is no doubt the Most Valuable Cricketer of this Generation. In terms of a Batsmen though, Lara and Tendulkar are the top 2 and Ponting a Close 3rd.
Blunted the very best bowlers, showed the world that Ponting didnt play the short balls anymore, took catches in sleep, dazzled the very best batsmen with pace and swing... Not just 1, but arguably the best cricketer for 3 generations of people, who follow the game!!
Yea I think kallis prob got out at the right time but it's still sad to see go cos every time I watched him bat I appreciated just how good he was as a batsman alone then you add the bowling and the catching to that man what a cricketer the best cricketer I've seen play that's for sure plus I respect him more for not having a ego and making the hard decision not to carry on to the World Cup through fitness and form issues a lot of players would be stubborn and just keep playing but kallis put his country and teammates first and wasn't afraid to swallow some pride for the best interests of everyone including himself thanks the memories that classical batting technique of yours will always stay in my mind
Kallis was so boring to watch, I would rather watch even Chanderpaul or Dravid. Lara and Tendulkar had class, style, flamboyance and an aura around them!
jk you are the reason I love cricket
why cant south african crickwt board bit him WC2015??...same as BCCI did in 2011...I mean all greats deserve this...
An absolute professional to the core. Dependable, skilled and always reliable. World cricket will miss the great Kallis.
The purple patch he went in as a batsman 5 years ago landed him up @ 45 tons. We Indians were scared he wud overtake Tendlya's record. He wud have, probably, if he wud hv pursued Test Cricket for another 2 years, from his Test retirement date. That's the skill n ability of Jacques!!!
Most true all-rounders play like millionaires as they can afford to - being able to contribute in both disciplines. But not Kallis! His batting was unaffected by his bowling and bowling unaffected by his batting. A player of great mental strength, that took absolutely nothing for granted. A player that went about extracting the most of his ability in each discipline of this great game. Amazing!
You always know the great guys by the fact that th eopposition always wish them out/weren't playing etc. Kallis was always a huge thorn in every team's side, and he would never stop coming cos he can bat / bowl / field!
W/be in any world XI since ... when? Ever?
He is no doubt the Most Valuable Cricketer of this Generation. In terms of a Batsmen though, Lara and Tendulkar are the top 2 and Ponting a Close 3rd.
Blunted the very best bowlers, showed the world that Ponting didnt play the short balls anymore, took catches in sleep, dazzled the very best batsmen with pace and swing... Not just 1, but arguably the best cricketer for 3 generations of people, who follow the game!!
Yea I think kallis prob got out at the right time but it's still sad to see go cos every time I watched him bat I appreciated just how good he was as a batsman alone then you add the bowling and the catching to that man what a cricketer the best cricketer I've seen play that's for sure plus I respect him more for not having a ego and making the hard decision not to carry on to the World Cup through fitness and form issues a lot of players would be stubborn and just keep playing but kallis put his country and teammates first and wasn't afraid to swallow some pride for the best interests of everyone including himself thanks the memories that classical batting technique of yours will always stay in my mind
Kallis was so boring to watch, I would rather watch even Chanderpaul or Dravid. Lara and Tendulkar had class, style, flamboyance and an aura around them!
it was always privilege to watch him playing ...a genuine match winning all rounder..am gonna miss him a lot ..hat's off to legend..from a Bangladeshi fan..
Greatest All rounder of our time....Amazing, respected & more importantly a very clean career he had...Pure Gentleman of the game retires..I've never seen Sobers, but was privileged to see this man..All the best Champion !!
The only true all rounder who could play purely as a batsman or a 2nd change pace bowler (up until 2010 or thereabouts) since the great 4 all rounders of 80s retired (Botham, Imran, Kapil and Hadlee). Has 45 test 100s (no less). That alone will qualify Kallis as one of the great batsmen of all time.
India had Dravid and Kumble on whom India's fortunes depended and they never failed to keep up with the faith and trust and YOU are both Dravid and Kumble put together 2 in 1. You gave 2 decades of your life to your fans around the world and now all the fans around the world wish you a very happy retirement. It is good that you retired when people are asking why now? rather than waiting for that moment when people would have started asking Why not now? great decision with perfect timing just like your shots or the wickets or the catches you take. I never saw Sobers/Miller/ Durrani in action but I saw Imran, Hadlee, Kapil, Botham, Pollack, Steve Waugh, Mark Waugh, Carl Hooper all of these individuals were great in their own way and they were all great allrounders but you are the greatest of them all.
Would be nice if cricinfo put all the Tweets on here from all the Ex-players wishing Kallis well. Not just the 10 listed here.
One of a kind! To me, he really is the greatest allrounder of our generation... when I was still growing up, I followed cricket all around the world and everytime I think of South Africa, I knew Jacques Kallis would be playing... and now this amazing cricketer's career is over. Will miss him. KING KALLIS! He's called so for a reason.
Dravid, Sachin, Ponting, Lara, Warne, Kumble, Murali, Wasim, Walsh, McGrath - I love each one of them and many more. Each one of them is a Master at something. But you Kallis, take a bow. You are not just Jack of all trades but MASTER OF ALL.
If he misses a match for his team, see the number of changes in playing 11. That says it all. Kallis, I can't say you are the greatest batsman or the greatest bowler or the best fielder. But you are the GREATEST CRICKETER TILL NOW (someone may cross you in future, for records are meant to be broken but it will take some decades).
Kallis retiring is like two players leaving the game! has done a brilliant job, hard to match by any. The unsung Hero...
I am a big fan of Sachin. But I have to say Kallis is the greatest cricketer till now. 10k runs in each format, almost 300 wickets in each format, 200 test catches. He's achieved everything on the ground. I think he should not be called all-rounder. He is a pure batsman and a pure bowler. Kirsten was spot on- "2 in 1 cricketer". Miss you Kallis. With love from INDIA.
An amazing cricketer, a privilege to have watched him play. Never saw Gary Sobers play, but going by stats, 'King' Kallis is the greatest allrounder! - from an Indian fan.
Definitely the greatest cricketer of this generation. Never got the accolades he so richly deserved.
Sad to see Kallis retire, but what has he not achieved! Brilliant cricketer, Mr. Reliable, always the man for a crisis be it score a match-winning century or take a crucial wicket to change the tide of the match. Jacques Kallis, you will be missed.
King Kallis take a bow from a pakistani fan...I will tell my kids ive seen the greatest all rounder cricket has ever produced ! #thankyou #legend
A great warrior. Once again showed how great 'a team player' he was.
In tests, he was in his own league. In ODIs, he was next best to Sanath - the Lion King.
What a player and what a career he has had. We will miss him.
Wishing you the very best in your future life, JK.
VSK Iyer / Lanka Lover Madras, INDIA
King Kallis is the best cricketer of our generation. Its sad that it has to come to an end but thank you for the years of teaching cricket to the world. No player will come close to achieving the most runs, wickets, and catches combined. The Greatest all rounder. The 3 IN 1
Easily the greatest player of his generation. The Tendulkar's, the Lara's, the Warne's and the McGrath's will be absolute greats. But none of them even come close to matching the impact Kallis had on his team. Great slip catcher, excellent in the outfield, one of the best batsmen of his generation and a very good third seamer. People like Kallis are gold and should be treasured forever. An unassuming cricket that will never have fanatics on the internet fighting over, but easily the greatest cricketer of his generation. And for those that have not actually seen Sir Garry play, I wouldn't grudge them to call Kallis the greatest ever.
Best batsman of the past 25 years
Once in a generation type of player. Thank you King Kallis!!
An all-time great player with extraordinary longevity for an all-rounder and I wish him well. Along with Smith was a rock that made the SA Test team very hard to crack.
I prefer to just enjoy great cricketers for what they were without the need to endlessly compare them with others but the fact that many see him in the same class as Sobers says it all.
Wonderful all round cricketer! Funny how little (relatively speaking) he got written about over his 19 year career, despite all those runs, wickets, and catches.
Easily the greatest player of his generation. The Tendulkar's, the Lara's, the Warne's and the McGrath's will be absolute greats. But none of them even come close to matching the impact Kallis had on his team. Great slip catcher, excellent in the outfield, one of the best batsmen of his generation and a very good third seamer. People like Kallis are gold and should be treasured forever. An unassuming cricket that will never have fanatics on the internet fighting over, but easily the greatest cricketer of his generation. And for those that have not actually seen Sir Garry play, I wouldn't grudge them to call Kallis the greatest ever.
Wonderful all round cricketer! Funny how little (relatively speaking) he got written about over his 19 year career, despite all those runs, wickets, and catches.
An all-time great player with extraordinary longevity for an all-rounder and I wish him well. Along with Smith was a rock that made the SA Test team very hard to crack.
I prefer to just enjoy great cricketers for what they were without the need to endlessly compare them with others but the fact that many see him in the same class as Sobers says it all.
Once in a generation type of player. Thank you King Kallis!!
Best batsman of the past 25 years
Easily the greatest player of his generation. The Tendulkar's, the Lara's, the Warne's and the McGrath's will be absolute greats. But none of them even come close to matching the impact Kallis had on his team. Great slip catcher, excellent in the outfield, one of the best batsmen of his generation and a very good third seamer. People like Kallis are gold and should be treasured forever. An unassuming cricket that will never have fanatics on the internet fighting over, but easily the greatest cricketer of his generation. And for those that have not actually seen Sir Garry play, I wouldn't grudge them to call Kallis the greatest ever.
King Kallis is the best cricketer of our generation. Its sad that it has to come to an end but thank you for the years of teaching cricket to the world. No player will come close to achieving the most runs, wickets, and catches combined. The Greatest all rounder. The 3 IN 1
In tests, he was in his own league. In ODIs, he was next best to Sanath - the Lion King.
What a player and what a career he has had. We will miss him.
Wishing you the very best in your future life, JK.
VSK Iyer / Lanka Lover Madras, INDIA
A great warrior. Once again showed how great 'a team player' he was.
King Kallis take a bow from a pakistani fan...I will tell my kids ive seen the greatest all rounder cricket has ever produced ! #thankyou #legend
Sad to see Kallis retire, but what has he not achieved! Brilliant cricketer, Mr. Reliable, always the man for a crisis be it score a match-winning century or take a crucial wicket to change the tide of the match. Jacques Kallis, you will be missed.