CSA muddling clouds De Kock appointment

“What’ve I’ve learnt from Faf is the amount of patience he’s created or developed over the years with the players.” - Quinton de Kock

TELFORD VICE in Johannesburg

NOBODY can be sure what kind of captain Quinton de Kock will make, but he seems to have a better idea of his role than the people who appointed him. On Tuesday, Cricket South Africa (CSA) said they were “pleased to name Quinton de Kock as the new Proteas one-day international captain”. Strangely, the release made no mention of the incumbent, all-format captain Faf du Plessis. But selector Linda Zondi seemed to cover that base when he told a reporter later on Tuesday: “Faf is still the captain and he is not out of the picture at all. This is part of our succession plan. ‘Quinny’ is one of the guys we have identified for the future.” Zondi said Du Plessis, like Kagiso Rabada, had been rested for the ODI series against England, which starts on February 4.

But, on Wednesday, the press were verbally informed by CSA that De Kock was indeed Du Plessis’ permanent replacement in the format. Asked at a press conference whether Du Plessis had wanted to continue in the role, De Kock said, “He hasn’t told me anything. I don’t think he’s told Mark [Boucher, the coach] anything. I haven’t heard anything. I’m also unsure of what’s going on.” Was Du Plessis still in South Africa’s ODI plans? “Definitely. I think he will still be part of it. At least, that’s my guess.”

Later on Wednesday, at a briefing with the press, CSA’s acting director of cricket, Graeme Smith, said: “It’s been a plan of ours to put a succession plan in place for 2023. Having sat with Faf, we see him playing a role as a player. But from a leadership perspective we felt that it was an opportunity to move forward in the one-day arena. Faf has been quite honest — he doesn’t see himself being around in 2023. Leadership as been an issue in South African cricket of late, we’ve made the decision to give ‘Quinny’ an opportunity. We feel tactically he’s good. There’s areas of his leadership that he knows, we all know, we need to grow and develop. But I think he’s the right guy at this stage to take that one-day side forward. He’s a permanent appointment.

Perhaps Zondi misspoke, but South Africa can hardly afford this level of muddled thinking and shoddy communication going into the fourth Test at the Wanderers on Friday. They have played ever more poorly and are 2-1 down, and they will have to make do without Rabada, who has been banned for the match after earning a fourth demerit point for provoking Joe Root after dismissing him in the third Test at St George’s Park. Consequently, Du Plessis has come under increasing pressure — his team have lost seven of their eight Tests. Du Plessis could give up that share of the leadership after the Wanderers match.

The fourth Test will be De Kock’s 200th match of any flavour for South Africa. He has played 100 under Du Plessis’ leadership. “What’ve I’ve learnt from Faf is the amount of patience he’s created or developed over the years with the players,” De Kock said. “Dealing with a lot of high profile players — guys with a lot of opinions — has grown him as a person.” De Kock led the team in two ODIs in Sri Lanka in August 2018, when South Africa lost both games, and in two T20s in India in September 2019, when the series was shared. What style of captaincy can South Africans expect? “There will be some sort of planning. You always have plan A and plan B, and if they don’t work I like to come up with things on the field. In different situations you have to make decisions on the go, especially in the heat of everything. What I see out there dictates the way you play the game. I will do a little bit of homework every now and again, but most of the time I will keep it pretty street smart. You don’t always have to go on a certain plan. Guys can end up learning from the game without planning for things. That helps grow cricketers.”

But, for now, de Kock was focused on what mattered: the Wanderers Test: “I haven’t thought too much about [the ODI series] yet. Like any captain, when the pressure’s on it just gets tougher anyway. I think I enjoy the extra responsibility.”

De Kock doesn’t waste words, and there is no mistaking what he is thinking. Or not thinking. He turned 27 last month. Ten years from now, when he’s either retired or considering calling it quits, he might want to consider a career in administration. CSA could use his gift for straight talk.

First published by Cricbuzz.