Jacques Kallis has been hired by ECB as batting consultant for Sri Lanka tour.
The England team, led by Joe Root, underwent their second training session in Hambantota on Thursday as they are set to face Sri Lanka in a two-match Test series starting from Jan 14th.
Wicket-keeper batsman Jonny Bairstow, who is expected to make his return to the Test side after more than a year, said that the addition of Jacques Kallis as a batting consultant is a “fantastic addition.”
Jacques Kallis, 45, had flown in from South Africa to join England for their two-Test series in Sri Lanka after England and the Wales cricket board (ECB) appointed South Africa's Jacques Kallis, as their batting consultant for the Sri Lanka tour.
Bairstow, 31, rates Jacques Kallis, as one of the best all-rounders in the cricketing world.
"I think it is a fantastic addition, someone of Jacques' caliber. The things he has done within the game, in my eyes he is the best all-rounder that there has ever been. Someone that batted at the top of the order, caught absolute flies at slip, and got so many wickets as well." Bairstow told reporters in a virtual chat from his hotel room in Hambantota.
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The 45-year-old sits third on the all-time Test run makers' list with only Sachin Tendulkar and Ricky Ponting ahead of him.
The former has amassed 13,289 runs with the bat at a healthy average of over 55 and has scalped 292 wickets with the ball in 166 Test matches he played from 1995-2014.
Jonny Bairstow can’t wait for a masterclass from the South African legend and believes he has a lot to learn from him.
“There are so many different aspects you could speak to him about. I am really intrigued to spend more time with him and gauge and understand the process. Because to string all three bits together so successfully, over such a long period of time, is a skill in itself.” he said.
The last time England toured Sri Lanka, the visitors, for the first time clean-sweep the three-match Test series in Sri Lanka. It was England’s first clean sweep in an overseas series of three or more tests since beating New Zealand in 1963.
(AFP inputs)