Quinton de Kock Wants To Improve And Contribute For Cricket South Africa
May 14, 2017 at 5:49 PM
The young batting prodigy of South Africa and wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock believes there is enough to improve for him as a player before contributing for the national team, in the foreseeable future.
“Sometimes my technique isn’t the best on slow decks,” De Kock was quoted as saying by IOL.
The 24-year-old left-handed wicket-keeper batsman de Kock has walked away with five coveted awards at the glittering Cricket South Africa’s award ceremony on Saturday in Kyalami.
“Fast wickets are my game. I try and read what the bowlers do and play to that situation, but when the ball is turning excessively, I still have a lot to work on,” De Kock revealed.
The southpaw has been revealed he would not rely on awards as he is expecting to learn from every game he will be part of while giving his best in practice sessions to take his game to a new high.
“It makes me enjoy the game more if I win individual accolades, but I just want to contribute, even if it’s just a run-out. I want to feel like I’ve done something to help the team,” De Kock remarked.
Expect Twenty20 Cricketer of the Year Award, which was claimed by leg-spinner Imran Tahir, de Kock won five awards as Test Cricketer of the Year, followed by One-day International Cricketer of the Year, South Africa Cricket of the Year, Fan’s Player of the Year and Player of the Year which further has boosted him to go into the much awaited ICC Champions Trophy which is scheduled in United Kingdom from June 1.
Interestingly, de Kock had a remarkable season in 2016-17 across all formats of international cricket as he has given due credit to his coaches and teammates. He was just one short of the fast bowler and his teammate Kagiso Rabada, who claimed all six awards during the last season.
It becomes pertinent that de Kock was the quickest to reach 3,000-run mark in ODI cricket in the 74th match after surpassing veteran wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni (90) and Australian Adam Gilchrist (95).
Earlier, de Kock, who was the part of Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Delhi Daredevils, was ruled out before the tournament started after sustaining finger injury during New Zealand tour earlier this year.
After recovering from the injury, de Kock made a habit to practice hard prior to the ICC Champions Trophy — to keep himself game fit.
De Kock, would be an interesting player to watch out for in the mega event as South Africa would want him to fire and set the tone for the rest of the players as they are featured in Group B in the eight-team tournament.
South Africa is touring England as their tour is extended to three-and-a-half month tour. The Proteas will play ICC Champions Trophy, three-match One-day International series, Twenty20 series and followed by four-match Tests series.
De Kock, who made his international appearance in 2012, has played 79 ODIs in which he has amassed 3,273 runs at an average of 43.46 which included 12 hundreds and 12 half-centuries respectively