Jacques Kallis and 12 Other Great South African All Rounders

by Ali Bacher, David Williams

Over a hundred years ago, there was Jimmy Sinclair, the first man to score a century and take six wickets in an innings in a test match. More recently was the brilliant era of Eddie Barlow, Tiger Lance, Mike Procter and Clive Rice, as well as Tony Greig and Basil D'Oliveira, South Africans who played for England. A great tradition was established for the modern era: since re-admission in 1992 there has been Brian McMillan, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and, the greatest of them all, Jacques Kallis. Jacques Kallis and 12 Other Great South African All-Rounders is about the 13 men each of whom were worth two or three players in one, worth their place as batsmen or bowlers, adored by the fans, and capable of changing a game with either of their skills. With a readable mix of anecdotes, commentary and statistics, Jacques Kallis and 12 Other Great South African All-Rounders is the first book about these multitalented heroes of cricket. A very special feature of the book is the inclusion of the careers of four black allrounders who were unable to play for national teams because of their race.

240 pages, Paperback

First published September 2, 2013

Reviews

[Aditya Mookerjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't finished reading this book, but I haven't come across any other cricket book that is so intriguingly discriptive about the game in general, on South African cricket. Test Cricket has seen many unusual times in it's history, and South Africa is not an exception to this, but is to the contrary.
This book is about the great South African all-rounders, and all-rounders don't live or play the game in isolation. In recent times, cricket and cricketers have been more popular than ever before in the past, but they are admired because they don't seem to be a part of the mainstream of the nation, or of the humdrum of people's lives.
I could be wrong, but I feel Indian cricketers were always admired in this manner. However, perhaps in the early years of cricket in South Africa, England and Australia, cricketers were seen as one of the general public. This could be because the people who played in domestic cricket competitions, were seen as one of the people, more than as stars, and they went on to play for their respective national teams.
In India, the domestic Ranji Trophy tournament is very popular among the players, but not among the public. Even with the T-20 format IPL tournament, the players are looked at as stars, separate from normal life.
This book seems to me to be a splendid account of the life and times of South Africa over the years, and of how society evolved, a book steeped in the atmosphere of South Africa. Dr Bacher has contributed towards one of the best books about cricket, which hasn't been in the news. I wonder how Wisden India hasn't mentioned it as one of the best books on the subject.

[Kaustubh Dudhane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am the first one to post a review (*a big grin.*) The book is a good collections of statistics and a few incidences of the thirteen great South African all rounders. It tells you more about pre and post apartheid cricket in South Africa. However, the book misses a major trick i.e. storytelling. It becomes monotonous when the authors keep on updating you about the numbers for almost every Test the all rounders featured. I didn't enjoy this book much.