Cape Town - They have been friends and senior Proteas team-mates for many years, but even Jacques Kallis was a little taken aback by Graeme Smith’s mid-Test announcement of his retirement from international cricket.
Kallis has only been out of the Test arena himself for a few weeks, after his own decision to step down during the India series, and he told SuperSport anchor Mpumelelo Mbangwa during a tea-break TV interview at Newlands on Tuesday: “I think it came by surprise to a lot of us.
“Having spoken to him a little bit, I knew he was there or thereabouts -- but I didn’t realise he was that close.