Quinton’s loss of confidence hits his form

● Timing in batting, like valves in an engine, is everything. Loss of timing leads to loss of form, which has been the case with the explosive Quinton de Kock.

In the Freedom Series in which the ball held sway, De Kock was the only South African top-order batsman who didn’t make a 50 across the six innings in the three tests.

De Kock showed signs of a return to form in Thursday’s six wicket loss to India with a 49-ball 34 but his red-ball returns in the 2017/18 season have been worrying.

Before his slump, De Kock got a ton and four 50s from 12 innings in tests against Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England between January and July 2017.

The dip started in the England series and former Proteas opener Jimmy Cook said bad pitches have the ability to scramble a batsman’s mind regardless of his form.

Cook hinted that the difficult surfaces De Kock has played on this season may have contributed to his waning form.

“There’s a tendency to lose confidence when you’re not scoring runs and when you’re playing on pitches with a bit of spice it breaks your confidence. You start to doubt yourself and being tentative can be problematic. For Quinton, being tentative isn’t a good thing because of his natural attacking nature. He likes to get things going,” Cook said.

“Better wickets give you better confidence because you know you’re going to hit the ball well. When the ball is moving around more and the bounce is inconsistent, it’s not always that easy to get going.”

In a seven/four batting-bowling split, De Kock’s failures wouldn’t be magnified. In a six/five setup where there’s a need for one or two to go big, single figure scores stand out like sore thumbs. De Kock’s series high score of 43 in a unit that didn’t breach three figures despite the 2-1 series win placed more pressure on those who come before him.

Against a team like Australia, who’ll be here next month for a four-test series, em- phasis has to be placed on one batsman going big while the rest bat around the centurion. In their successful Ashes campaign, Australia had a centurion in each of the five tests with captain Steve Smith contributing three. De Kock’s limited-overs returns despite an underwhelming Ram Slam T20 tournament (118 runs at 14.75 in eight innings) are workable with three 50s and a 168* against Bangladesh in his last 10 ODIs. Cook said the shorter formats could be De Kock’s saviour.

“I’ve known De Kock since he was a boy and he’s always been attacking and positive. At some point that form has to come back,” Cook said.

You ... doubt yourself and being tentative can be problematic