South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis has been ruled out of the ODI series against England due to a fractured rib.
Bad break for star all-rounder
South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis has been ruled out of the entire one-day international series against England because of a fractured rib.
Reports have emerged that Kallis suffered the injury during the Twenty20 Champions League in India last month, and a scan has now unveiled the true extent of the damage.
South Africa are yet to name a replacement for their star all-rounder and the 34-year-old now faces a race against time to be fit for the four-Test series against England.
Speaking on the injury, South Africa coach Mickey Arthur said: "It is with deep regret that we have to announce Jacques Kallis is out of the one-day series.
"He just wasn't getting better from that injury.
"We had him re-scanned this morning and found there is a fracture in the cartilage of the rib - which clearly affects his performances for the next four weeks.
"Obviously, it's very disappointing."
Balance
Assessing Kallis' chances of returning for the first Test at Centurion on December 16, Arthur admitted the likelihood of that happing is a "grey area".
"The balance he brings to our Test side is huge, so he wasn't going to do a hell of a lot of bowling in the one-dayers anyway," he added.
"We would play Jacques as a batter only in Tests if need be. He is among the top five batters in world cricket, so we could certainly do that.
"We wouldn't push him to bowl in the first Test if we thought it would impede in matches two, three and four.
"The injury is affecting his batting at the moment - and what he needs now is four weeks off to get mended.
"If he batted then the movements of batting and running between the wickets and stretching would all affect his recovery - so that is why we're pulling him out of this series."
Hashim Amla will take Kallis's place in Sunday's line-up, with Arthur confident he will be ready to do the job.
"We have groomed Hashim Amla to open the batting in one-day cricket - and he will be a more than adequate replacement,"
