At
the moment, the South African cricket team does not have a specialist
wicketkeeper. AB de Villiers, one of the Proteas' more accomplished fielders
has been entrusted with the responsibility of the gloves while being expected
to continue performing with the bat.
It
is quite a farcical situation considering that a specialist 'keeper in Thami
Tsolekile is waiting in reserve. The only reason that I can come up with as to
why Tsolekile hasn’t yet found himself in the XI is that perhaps his batting
could be deemed as suspect and I don’t suppose the South African selectors
would have wanted to expose him to a bowling attack as proficient as England’s
during the tour of England a few months back. The real toss up for the
selectors right now is JP Duminy’s batting versus that of Tsolekile. Duminy
averages 37, 57 runs per innings in Tests and 51 in First Class matches
compared to Tsolekile’s 9, 40 in Tests and 29, 01 in all First Class games;
granted Duminy has played in thirteen more Tests. But at some point, the
selectors will realise that they do in fact need a specialist wicketkeeper and
right now that solution is Tsolekile. However considering that Tsolekile is in
his thirties and only a few years younger than the previous keeper, Mark
Boucher, even he cannot be regarded as a long term fixture behind the stumps.
So who will the SA selectors turn to?
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| CLT20: De Kock celebrates after making 50 against the Mumbai Indians |
I am
putting my money on young Highveld Lions keeper/batsman Quinton de Kock. He is
19 and in his breakthrough season of professional cricket. Initially, he was a
highly thought of gloveman who was handy with the bat but since the days of his
early promise, de Kock has proven that he is as good in behind the stumps as he
is with bat in hand. The left-handed batsman starred for the SA u19 cricket
team at the World Cup played in Australia earlier this year where he made 284
runs in 6 matches at an average of 47,33 and an impressive strike rate of 102,52.
De Kock has been a regular in the senior set-up at Gauteng cricket since 2009
where he made his debut as a 16 year old representing the Gauteng senior amateur
side in a game against Border. He has been most impressive in First Class
cricket where he has amassed 1209 runs in 14 matches at an average of 63, 63
and most remarkably in that time he has already scored 4 centuries with his
highest score of 194 scored earlier this season against the Cape Cobras. De
Kock seems like the real deal. He has been a consistent and quality performer in
all 3 formats of the game and he is an attacking batsman as his strike rate of
almost 88 in first class cricket suggests and a powerful striker of the ball,
in the mould of Adam Gilchrist.
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| Tidy Glovework. |
Mark
Boucher was able to stand alone as South Africa’s wicketkeeper without any
pretenders to his throne or anyone mounting a serious challenge for the
wicketkeeper’s spot for 15 years apart from Tsolekile who knocked him off his
perch for a brief period in 2004. The reality of it is that there isn’t a
shortage of skilled or talented ‘keepers playing the domestic game, all you
have to do is cast a glance at the list of ‘keepers playing in SA: Morne van
Wyk, Davy Jacobs, and Daryn Smit etc… But I reckon de Kock would have the edge
over anybody else because quite simply he is young and could have the same opportunity
as mark Boucher to grow in the role of being the Proteas gloveman, and, if
given the choice, the decision makers, I think, would want someone who is a
quality performer and one who would be able to make the position his own and
remained settled in that spot for a long period of time. If this is so then de
Kock is their man. Remember the name Quinton de Kock. You’re gonna be hearing
it a lot soon.
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