Hopefully De Kock sees the bigger picture ahead of his last rodeo

Even before his international debut, Quinton de Kock made it clear he hated talking about cricket. 

Weeks before he ends his career as a one-day player, he told SuperSport he hates training, that even though he is 30, he feels 40. Cricket it seems, while filling the competitive gap in his psyche was never the be-all and end-all for De Kock. 

His natural talent thrilled viewers and left teammates in awe, yet as he prepares for this third 50-over World Cup, there is the sense that he still owes the Proteas. He doesn’t think so, of course, and while his international record reflects a player who has produced match-winning performances, the feeling remains that he could have done more.

In his early international career he played alongside AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander. It was an environment, he has acknowledged, that allowed him to thrive, because as the young gun, he was given the freedom to unleash his natural flair. 

As he got older and those greats stepped away from the sport, the more responsibility that was heaped on him, the less impactful were the performances. 

Giving him the captaincy as then head coach Mark Boucher, in conjunction with former Cricket SA director of cricket Graeme Smith, did in 2021 was a mistake. Again, De Kock said it didn’t affect his game, but it was clear it did, though the circumstances weren’t helped by the Covid-19 pandemic and the restrictive biobubbles in which the team were forced to operate. 

He quit Test cricket suddenly during the Indian series in 2021/22, citing the need to spend more time with his family.

That decision came a few weeks after arguably the most controversial incident of De Kock’s career, one for which he owes Temba Bavuma especially, plenty of payback. His decision not to take a knee at the T20 World Cup in 2021 reflected someone who was unable to comprehend the world around him, the history of the country he was born in and the role he had as a public figure. Notwithstanding the ham-fisted manner in which Cricket SA’s board attempted to enforce the issue, De Kock’s selfishness came to the fore.

Bavuma deflected a lot of the attention off De Kock while also making it clear that he held no grudges. 

The two have known each other since their teens and are good friends yet in making the decision to quit ODIs after the World Cup, De Kock didn’t tell Bavuma. He doesn’t have to, but it would have been decent to at least let the guy who had your back amid much controversy two years ago, know about such an important decision.

Bavuma remains firmly supportive of De Kock, understanding from a cricket perspective his importance to the Proteas at the 2023 World Cup. “Being around him in the last couple of weeks, I can feel that there is a different edge about him,” he said ahead of the team’s departure for India on Saturday.

“There is something for us as a group to prove and it seems as if there is also something for him to prove. He also seems to be enjoying all the little moments with guys that he has been playing alongside in all these years,” Bavuma said.

“As much as we are going out there for the World Cup to come back with that trophy, there is also that goal within the team where we would like to give him a proper send-off. He has been a big player within the team and we would like to play our part in making the story have a proper fairytale ending.

De Kock’s future on the field will be based on various T20 leagues around the world, which in 2023 will include the Big Bash in Australia. Again this is a decision that would make him unavailable for a T20 series with India, which SA is playing at the same time. 

De Kock said in a recent interview that if he were only thinking about money, he would have quit playing for the Proteas five years ago. It was said with a tone that implied he had been doing the country a favour. 

He is not the only one to have sacrificed other parts of his life or cash in his bank account to play international cricket. His teammates have too. It would be good if he took a moment to reflect on that as he tackles the 2023 World Cup. For all the great moments he has had on the field, he still owes the Proteas more.