da prosport bet： Jacques Kallis has become the eighth batsman to 10,000 Test runs afterachieving the record on the second day of the first Test at theWanderers
da fezbet： Brydon Coverdale at the Wanderers27-Feb-2009
Jacques Kallis joins an exclusive club of Test players © Getty Images
Jacques Kallis has become the eighth batsman to 10,000 Testruns after achieving the record on the second day of the firstTest at the Wanderers. Kallis, who is playing his 129th Test, startedthe match needing 12 to reach the milestone and brought it up with apush through cover for a single off Peter Siddle.A roar went around the Wanderers as he and Neil McKenzie ran throughfor the run and Kallis removed his helmet and raised his bat toacknowledge the applause. The only other man on the field to haveachieved the milestone, Ricky Ponting, jogged down the pitch fromsecond slip to shake Kallis’ hand.Kallis is the first South African to reach the mark and has anenormous buffer over the next of his countrymen on the list – GaryKirsten is second with 7289 runs. It has been a memorable couple ofmonths for Kallis, who brought up his 10,000th ODI run during therecent tour of Australia.”It’s really important I think,” Kallis said of his Test milestone.”Looking back at my career when I started if someone had said that Iwould have got 10,000 Test runs I would have taken that with bothhands and I probably wouldn’t have believed them. It does mean a lotto me.”He is nearly 2500 runs behind the world-record holder Sachin Tendulkarbut he is also two-and-a-half years younger. Kallis would also need toovertake current players Ponting and Rahul Dravid if he was to setthe record and he said it was not a scenario that was on his mind.”I’ve never been a man for stats or worrying about that stuff,” Kallissaid. “I’ll just play as long as I keep enjoying the game and if ithappens it happens and if not, so be it. It’s certainly not somethingthat I’ll be chasing after.”Entering the game Kallis had an average of 54.57 with 30 hundreds and50 fifties but his impact is not limited to runs. He adds supremevalue to the South African side with 252 wickets at 31.25 and he isthe only man to have 10,000 Test runs and 100 wickets. His captainGraeme Smith said Kallis’ all-round package made him a giant of thegame.”It is a fantastic achievement and one that is thoroughly deserved,”Smith said. “For a large part of his career he had to carry SouthAfrica’s batting and it is this longevity which is one of the signsof true greatness. If you add in his 250 wickets and his 100-pluscatches, you get a good idea of what a giant of the game he hasbecome.”
