Andrew Flintoff [Images] and Jacques Kallis [Images] have come close to breaching the Trades Description Act in recent weeks.

Before South Africa's five-match Test series against England [Images], the pair were reputedly all rounders of world standing. What followed, however, belied that branding.

Kallis, despite Ray Jennings's threats to squeeze the best out of his bowling even if it meant his premature burn-out, played out the series in the guise of a specialist batsman. Flintoff, meanwhile, bowled his heart out but, until the final Test, batted with conspicuous lack of nous or, indeed, success.

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Few cricketing terms are more abused than that of "all rounder". Only a handful of cricketers from each generation are genuinely worthy of selection as either batsman or bowler.

At their best Kallis and Flintoff, both fine slip fielders to boot, belong to that august list, although they go about their work in very different ways.

Statistically, the South African is by far the superior player in both disciplines but Flintoff, ranked as the world's best one-day player of 2004, has his attractions. He is more explosive, a greater crowd pleaser and has a willingness to walk through walls for his captain and team mates.

Kallis's enthusiasm for the greater cause was less obvious against England. He was imperial with the bat, scoring three textbook centuries and two 50s batting at four as he averaged 69.44. But as a bowler he could only manage four wickets at 75.75 apiece. Forced to carry the batting, he became increasingly reluctant, so the gossip had it, to put in the bone-jarring yards with ball in hand.

The official lists have Kallis as the world's top all rounder and the second-ranked batsman behind India's Rahul Dravid [Images].

Struggling under the burden of being all things to all men, though, the 29-year-old may already have accepted, despite Jennings's opposition, that his days as an all rounder are drawing to a close. A batting average of 80 compared to 15 wickets at 54.46 since the start of 2004 show where his focus now lies.

Flintoff, too, had some carrying to do during the just-concluded series. With Steve Harmison out of sorts, he found himself transformed into an opening bowler and responded with 23 magnificent wickets, only second to Matthew Hoggard's [Images] 26 in the English averages.

INJURY BURDEN

Extraordinarily, he crunched through his 200-odd overs -- only Shaun Pollock [Images] and Makhaya Ntini [Images] bowled more -- with a damaged ankle demanding immediate surgery after the series.

His batting at number six, in contrast, seemed wasteful and reckless at times as the South Africans fed him short balls outside off which he invariably carved into the hands of gully or fourth slip. Perhaps, as in Kallis's case, the demands on him were simply too great to try and complete both his functions.

But the ever-smiling Flintoff, two years younger than Kallis, got it right when it mattered. In the final Test he crafted an impeccable, responsible innings of 77 which only ended when he went on the attack in the interests of the team (something that Kallis critically and inexplicably failed to do on the final day).

Those runs, in retrospect, were vital in England's 2-1 success. The style of their getting also suggested that this one-time big hitter has much more to offer as a batsman.