As you may have already heard the legendary Jacques Kallis has been named as England’s batting consultant for the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka in January 2021 but what does this mean for the Three Lions and the Proteas heading into the immediate future? 

Well, there are both positives and negatives to the appointment depending on which perspective you decide to take so let’s kickstart proceedings by talking about Kallis’ new employer, England. 

The Three Lions head to Sri Lanka in January with a rather unfamiliar batting line-up which will be without resolute opener Rory Burns, who has decided to stay with his wife in England for the birth of his first child, and heroic all-rounder Ben Stokes who has sensibly been rested for this tour following the tragic news of his father’s passing earlier this month. 

So what did England deem necessary in order to inspire their relatively inexperienced batting unit heading into the dry, dusty subcontinental spin paradise of Sri Lanka? 

The answer seems rather obvious, appoint a legendary all-rounder who finished his illustrious 18-year Test career as the third leading run scorer of all time and averaged a staggering 80.61 against spin bowling in the 21^st century, former Protea Jacques Henry Kallis.

The mere thought of his name alone should create an unrivalled sense of amazement, excitement and confidence within the English batting ranks. 

Unfortunately, for England fans at least, Jacques isn’t boarding the plane to Sri Lanka with the intention of donning the Three Lions shirt but the sheer wealth of knowledge, expertise and cricketing nous that he possesses will be absolutely invaluable to the likes of Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley and Dan Lawrence on this tour. 

Talking of those young batsmen there is one name in particular that sticks out to me with regards to his ability to play both with and against the spin, Warwickshire opener Dom Sibley. 

Sibley’s struggles against spin have been widely charted over the course of his blossoming Test career so far, with the granite-like opener struggling to play the likes of Mitchell Santner, Keshav Maharaj and Yasir Shah at times since his debut back in 2019. 

Against a solid Sri Lankan spin attack comprising of Dhananjaya de Silva, Dilruwan Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga and Lasith Embuldeniya the immensely promising opener simply cannot afford to go into the first Test in Galle without the ability to rotate the strike against the spin.  

And this is where I believe that Kallis’ appointment could impact England’s immediate and long-term future the most. 

If King Kallis is able to instil a greater sense of self-belief and confidence into Sibley’s ability to rotate the strike against the spin and put the pressure back onto the Sri Lankan bowlers, then England’s fortunes in this series may begin to appear even brighter and with an India tour on the horizon in February the lessons learnt from working alongside the greatest all rounder of this century will be absolutely invaluable to say the least. 

With that being said, the appointment of Kallis is by no means a ‘silver bullet’ for England heading into this series considering the short nature of the tour itself but the opportunity to learn from one of the all-time greats will be something that will stick with these developing English batsmen for the remainder of their careers and for that reason, in my view at least, this is a fantastic appointment from an English perspective. 

But that’s enough about England for now, instead let’s talk about Kallis’ former employers and the country with which he created his legendary status in the very game itself, South Africa. 

To some Proteas fans the loss of Kallis to the Three Lions may seem a bit alarming for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the apparent ease with which England has snapped up the former Proteas batting coach is rather concerning and highlights just how easy it is for other national sides to snap up coaches from the South African setup if their offer is deemed to be good enough. 

Furthermore, his absence leaves a tremendous hole to fill in the South African coaching staff and although former Lions and Hampshire batsman Neil McKenzie will be an apt replacement for the Proteas, I can’t help but think that the mere presence of Kallis within the setup would be a huge motivational factor for the side heading into two tough series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. 

He is, after all, one of the greatest cricketers ever produced by the rainbow nation and a bona fide legend of the game itself in so many regards. 

On the flip side though, it is also important to remember that this is only a temporary appointment by England as the ECB have opted to rest current batting coach Graham Thorpe for this tour due to the hectic nature of the English cricketing schedule in 2021. 

In addition to this, the Three Lions are also searching for a full-time batting coach as opposed to short-term, temporary batting consultants so it is more than likely that Kallis will only be joining up with the side for the Sri Lanka tour, although if he proves to be a fruitful acquisition for the side then England may explore the option of extending his stay until the end of the following tour against the mighty India if possible. 

For the time being though this is only speculation and the only thing that we do know for sure is that the third-leading Test run-scorer of all time will be spending his January in a bio-secure bubble on the sun-kissed shores of Sri Lanka as opposed to his native South Africa. 

Whether this will have any impact on the Proteas heading into the remainder of the international summer remains to be seen but from an English perspective, I cannot wait to see what Jacques has to offer and I wish him nothing but the very best of luck during his time with the Three Lions. 

Photo: Ryan Wilkisky/BackpagePix

Check out our Daily Episode on this appointment: