England hire South African batting legend Kallis for Sri Lanka tour

South African cricket icon Jacques Kallis will be a batting consultant for England’s tour of Sri Lanka, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Monday.

The 45-year-old is third on the all-time list of Test run-scorers with 13,289 – he also took 292 wickets.

Kallis coached Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League and worked with the South Africa team, but was not part of the set-up for England’s recent coronavirus-disrupted tour.

“Former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis joins the England setup for the first time as batting coaching consultant,” the ECB said in a statement.

England will leave for Sri Lanka on January 2 and play two Tests before going on to tour India.

Both Tests will be played in Galle, starting on 14 January and 22 January.

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It will be England’s first tour since the visit to South Africa had to be brought to a premature end earlier this month after two members of the touring party tested positive for Covid-19. They later tested negative.

England played all three of the scheduled Twenty 20 internationals but none of the three ODIs, the first of which was postponed after a positive test in the South African entourage.

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