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Analysis of and commentary on South African cricket

Category: Batsman

6 August 2012

The Kallis double century mystery solved

FEATURE: Why did it take so long for Jacques Kallis to score 200? For a long, long time, this was the question on every South African cricket-supporter’s mind. In November 2010, just before he scored his first 200, I did the following analysis which, I think, solves the mystery. Indeed, in retrospect, the way in which Kallis went about getting his first 200 seems to suggest it was correct. It is worth reflecting on today, if only to understand what it was, exactly, he needed to overcome. Read on to find out what it was.

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31 July 2012

Tendulkar, Ponting and Kallis: When to let go

FEATURE: How do ‘great’ players know when to retire? It’s a tough call. Tougher still for selectors. One helpful tool is to look at a player’s cumulative career average over time. The longer a career (and the greats play for a long time these days), the easier it is to see when one’s form is improving or declining. In the piece below I set out some examples, before looking at Tendulkar, Ponting and Kallis and seeing in what fashion their careers are likely to end.