Publications
Partners
South African cricket has a new rising star in Quinton de Kock – and since his debut against New Zealand last January; it’s always been a case of ‘when’ as opposed to ‘if’ the diminutive left-hand opener would make his mark in the international arena.
Although the talented 20 year-old initially struggled against Pakistan in the home ODI series played in March and then followed that up with a quiet tour against Sri Lanka – a forgettable month and a 4-1 defeat for the Proteas – he has been sublime of late.
A rich vein of form for the Highveld Lions in the recent 2013 Champions League culminated in a defining 109 not out off 63 balls against the Otago Volts.
It would seem that this little innings of magic has been the catalyst for some outstanding performances at the top of the South African innings in the earlier UAE series against Pakistan which included a well-stroked maiden ODI century.
De Kock has shown maturity beyond his age and displayed some brutal, crisp, clean hits which have often resembled home-run-bound baseball swings.
And when you consider that de Kock wasn’t even born when South Africa was readmitted to the ICC in 1991, it’s quite scary.
But a player of his quality is indicative of the born-free talent which is filtering through the system and hopefully the next generation will not bare the scars of previous Protea’s disappointments in ODI World Cups.
So I suppose it’s fitting that young Quinton de Kock has just blasted his way to a stylish 135 runs on his home ground against India today – a team that first toured here after 21 years of isolation and a time when the gifted wicket-keeper was still in his mother’s womb.
Also, his skipper AB de Villiers was there to celebrate with him - as was the case in the UAE.
What is even more interesting (although it’s still early days) is that once de Kock gets past his half-century, he goes on to make triple figures.
This is something which South African batsmen struggled with when the Proteas returned to the international stage and de Kock’s maturity in the middle shows how far South African cricket has come.
De Kock even has the temperament to go on and score big hundreds – another attribute which took five years to slowly disappear from the periphery of our batsmen’s mental output in the middle.
We’ve also seen some reflex-action catches – saved for the top drawer – behind the stumps in the home and away series’ against Pakistan which makes for interesting food for thought for the SA selectors.
This begs the question: how long will they continue to ignore the potential that de Kock possesses in order to shine in Test match cricket?
Because this chap has the potential, and a ravenous appetite, to score some big double hundreds.
Well batted Quinton!
Go you good thing.
Although the talented 20 year-old initially struggled against Pakistan in the home ODI series played in March and then followed that up with a quiet tour against Sri Lanka – a forgettable month and a 4-1 defeat for the Proteas – he has been sublime of late.
A rich vein of form for the Highveld Lions in the recent 2013 Champions League culminated in a defining 109 not out off 63 balls against the Otago Volts.
It would seem that this little innings of magic has been the catalyst for some outstanding performances at the top of the South African innings in the earlier UAE series against Pakistan which included a well-stroked maiden ODI century.
De Kock has shown maturity beyond his age and displayed some brutal, crisp, clean hits which have often resembled home-run-bound baseball swings.
And when you consider that de Kock wasn’t even born when South Africa was readmitted to the ICC in 1991, it’s quite scary.
But a player of his quality is indicative of the born-free talent which is filtering through the system and hopefully the next generation will not bare the scars of previous Protea’s disappointments in ODI World Cups.
So I suppose it’s fitting that young Quinton de Kock has just blasted his way to a stylish 135 runs on his home ground against India today – a team that first toured here after 21 years of isolation and a time when the gifted wicket-keeper was still in his mother’s womb.
Also, his skipper AB de Villiers was there to celebrate with him - as was the case in the UAE.
What is even more interesting (although it’s still early days) is that once de Kock gets past his half-century, he goes on to make triple figures.
This is something which South African batsmen struggled with when the Proteas returned to the international stage and de Kock’s maturity in the middle shows how far South African cricket has come.
De Kock even has the temperament to go on and score big hundreds – another attribute which took five years to slowly disappear from the periphery of our batsmen’s mental output in the middle.
We’ve also seen some reflex-action catches – saved for the top drawer – behind the stumps in the home and away series’ against Pakistan which makes for interesting food for thought for the SA selectors.
This begs the question: how long will they continue to ignore the potential that de Kock possesses in order to shine in Test match cricket?
Because this chap has the potential, and a ravenous appetite, to score some big double hundreds.
Well batted Quinton!
Go you good thing.
