South African cricketer Quinton de Kock apologized to his teammates and fans for the “hurt, confusion, and anger” he caused by sitting out South Africa’s match against West Indies after refusing to follow a CSA directive to take the knee before each match.
Quinton de Kock Refuses to Take a Knee
During the ICC T20 WC 2021 group match against West Indies, At the toss, skipper Temba Bavuma explained de Kock was unavailable due to ‘personal reasons’ with Reeza Hendricks replacing him in the XI.
Regarding the issue Quinton de Kock says “If me taking a knee helps to educate others, and makes the lives of others better, I am more than happy to do so,” de Kock said.
After an “emotional” conversation with the CSA board on Wednesday night, de Kock said has a “better understanding of their intentions” and “will love nothing more than to play cricket for my country again”.
“I know I’m not great with words, but I’ve tried my best to explain how truly sorry I am for making like this is about me,” de Kock said. “It is not.
“I just want to thank my teammates for their support, especially my captain, Temba [Bavuma]. People might not recognise, but he is a flipping amazing leader. If he and the team, and South Africa, will have me, I would love nothing more than to play cricket for my country again.”
“I won’t lie, I was shocked that we were told on the way to an important match that there was an instruction that we had to follow, with a perceived “or else.” I don’t think I was the only one,” de Kock’s statement said.
“We had camps. We had sessions. We had zoom meetings. We know where we all stand. And that is together. I think it would of (sic) been better for everyone concerned if we had sorted this out before the tournament started. Then we could have focused on our job, to win cricket matches for our country.”
“I understand the importance of standing against racism, and I also understand the responsibility of us as players to set an example. If me taking a knee helps to educate others, and makes the lives of others better, I am more than happy to do so.”
Adam Gilchrist opens on de Kock’s decision
Former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist said that South African cricketer Quinton de Kock’s decision to opt out of the game against West Indies in the T20 World Cup on Tuesday was not on account of him not supporting “people of colour within that country.”
“It seems Quinton de Kock is very active in being pro-Black Lives Matter, and supporting people of colour within that country,” Gilchrist told SEN on Wednesday.
