Quinton de Kock enjoyed carrying team in dismal year

Quinton de Kock says he enjoyed having to carry the Proteas on his small shoulders as he stood out like a sore thumb with his inspiring performances during SA’s worst-ever season and home summer.

The reigning SA men’s cricketer of the year was the only shining light with four halfcenturies during a dark home summer for the Proteas in which they folded 3-1 to England in the four-match Test.

The Proteas limited-overs captain led by example in the ODI series against Eoin Morgan’s visitors with a century and added three more half-centuries in the home series against England and Australia.

Apart from scoring runs‚ De Kock also keeps wicket on top of his limited-overs captaincy responsibilities.

That led to a perceived concern that the 27-year-old hardhitting left-hander has too much on his shoulders‚ but the star wicketkeeper batsman said he actually took pleasure in carrying the team.

“I think at some point‚ I’m not going to lie‚ I actually enjoyed that extra responsibility. I actually really enjoyed it whether it was there or not‚” the Titans poster boy said.

De Kock said while he enjoyed carrying the team‚ he is excited about the young talent coming through in the limitedovers team post the disastrous 2019 Cricket World Cup in England. “Towards the end of the season you could see the amount of potential coming through.

“Obviously, we saw guys like Janneman Malan‚ Hendrick Klaasen‚ Lungi Ngidi after his injury coming through.

“A guy like Anrich Nortje‚ all these guys‚ Temba Bavuma obviously‚ these guys know they themselves that they want that responsibility [to carry the team] also and to be one of the best players in the world and that is what they are striving for and it is good to have that around.”

De Kock averages almost 40 in his 80 innings from 47 Test matches scoring 2‚934 runs with a best score of 129 not out. —