Mickey Arthur hails Kallis as one of greatest Test cricketers

Sydney: Sacked Australian coach Mickey Arthur has hailed retiring South African all-rounder Jacques Kallis and said that the player would go down as one of the greatest Test cricketers the world has ever seen.

Kallis, arguably the greatest all-rounder in history - is playing his final Test match for South Africa against India after a professional career spanning 18 years, in which he amassed 13,174 runs, a number bettered only by Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Rahul Dravid, and has taken 292 wickets. According to a leading website, Arthur expressed his shock at Kallis` sudden retirement and believes his departure will upset the balance of the world`s best Test team, saying that Kallis would go down as one of the greatest Test cricketers the world has ever seen. Arthur further said that Kallis always gave his team an extra man as either a bowler or a batsman, for which South Africa always played with 12 men in Test cricket, adding that a Kallis was `sheer brilliance` with the bat and had a `wicked sense` of humour, although he did not speak much. Kallis was the type of player who Arthur, as coach, could sit back and admire, while watching the batsman at the other end grow in confidence, although Arthur added that for all his composure and concentration at the crease, Kallis was often a bundle of nerves before walking out to the middle.