In a reversal of stance against gesturing his support to the Black Lives Matter campaign, Quinton de Kock will now be taking the knee and resume his South African duties in the ongoing T20 World Cup in the UAE.
After contentiously missing the game against West Indies because of his disapproval of a Cricket South Africa directive, De Kock has now apologised for causing “hurt, confusion and anger” among the Proteas fans.
He opted out of South Africa’s second Super 12 fixture in Dubai on Tuesday (October 26). Initially, Proteas captain Temba Bavuma said it was down to “personal reasons”, but later CSA confirmed that the player had indeed withdrawn from the fixture because of his stance against taking the knee.
Learn more 👉 ”As a team, we are suprised”: SA captain Bavuma on de Kock’s stance on taking knee
The moment it came to light, De Kock faced widespread criticism for his decision and accusations of lack of support to an anti-racism campaign followed. But in a statement made on Thursday (October 28), the player said “I am not a racist” and missed the Windies fixture because he personally felt that his “rights” were taken away to express disapproval of racism in his own way.
The 28-year-old said since CSA’s directive that made it necessary for all players to take the knee came only hours before the game against the West Indies, he felt he was being forced into something and chose not to comply with it.
“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. We had camps. We had sessions. We had zoom meetings. We know where we all stand. And that is together,”
De Kock added.
The former captain further mentioned that he previously didn’t take the knee because he “didn’t understand” why he had to portray with a gesture of knee that he is anti-racist. But that has changed now following “emotional” discussions with the board and “better understanding” their intention behind the directive.
After promising to take the knee, De Kock said he loves “nothing more than to play cricket for my country again” and thus will comeback to play on Saturday when SA take on Sri Lanka in Sharjah for a potential must-win fixture.
In his statement, Quinton made it a point to express gratitude towards Bavuma for showing admirable leadership qualities and giving him his comfort space even as he faced allegations of racism from all corners.
“I just want to thank my teammates for their support, especially my captain, Temba. 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.”
The Australian board also said it is welcoming of De Kock’s apology and agreeing to take the knee in the coming games. In their directive, the board had made it clear that the necessity to take the knee is about all South African players being seen to be making a “united” gesture against racism, which the BLM movement is about.
