England hire South African batting legend Kallis for Sri Lanka tour

South African cricket icon Jacques Kallis will be a batting consultant for England's tour of Sri Lanka, the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Monday. 

The 45-year-old is third on the all-time list of Test run-scorers with 13,289 --he also took 292 wickets.

Kallis coached Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League and worked with the South Africa team, but was not part of the set-up for England's recent coronavirus-disrupted tour.

"Former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis joins the England setup for the first time as batting coaching consultant," the ECB said in a statement.

England will leave for Sri Lanka on January 2 and play two Tests before going on to tour India.

Both Tests will be played in Galle, starting on 14 January and 22 January.

It will be England's first tour since the visit to South Africa had to be brought to a premature end earlier this month after two members of the touring party tested positive for Covid-19. They later tested negative. 

England played all three of the scheduled Twenty 20 internationals but none of the three ODIs, the first of which was postponed after a positive test in the South African entourage.