C365 Player of the Week: Quinton de Kock
In the past month the Lions’ prodigy has scored three ODI centuries, the only three in his short career, and still has no international fifties to his name. Conversion rate of 100 percent, thy name is Quinney.
South Africa’s baby-faced wicketkeeper-batsman, Quinton de Kock, has been getting his Adam Gilchrist on lately, opening the innings with two centuries in a row and wearing a pink helmet without any sense of shame or irony.
In the past month the Lions’ prodigy has scored three ODI centuries, the only three in his short career, and still has no international fifties to his name. Conversion rate of 100 percent, thy name is Quinney.
He has also formed a formidable partnership with Hashim Amla at the top of the knock, allowing the bearded assassin to score tons of his own while safe in the comfort of a stable stand, instead of watching a batting collapse at the other end.
Huge credit must go to the selectors really, as De Kock’s rising form has seemingly kept Graeme Smith out the side, with the Test skipper opting to leave the ODI series against India and prepare for the Tests, rather than put everyone in an awkward position.
Because how do you drop a 20-year-old ‘keeper who has posted all his top scores in his last few matches? He started the ball rolling against Pakistan in the UAE, and then scored two tons in two games to give SA a series win over number one ODI side India.
And he’s done all this while dealing with the pressure of being AB de Villiers’ understudy behind the stumps. QdK’s keeping is sometimes Kamran Akmal-like in execution, but lately he has pulled off some stunners to put himself more in the Mark Boucher mold.
A few more of those catches and slip cordon veteran Jacques Kallis will start smiling again, and imagining his BFF in the middle with him, especially as fellow senior Biff is increasingly out of the picture in one-day games, by injury or design.
All this is, of course, bad news for Thami Tsolekile, who continues to be dragged around the globe in the Test squad without a hope of playing, unless AB gets injured. De Kock is not in the Test squad yet, but give it till February when the Aussies visit.
Honourable mention must of course go to Australia fast bowler <b>Mitchell Johnson’s moustache</b>, as it inspired the Aussies to a second Ashes win on the trot in Adelaide. Its Samson-like effects will be around for a while, as Johnson says he will keep it for the rest of the series.
<b>Lindsay du Plessis</b>