Is Quinton de Kock coming of age?

20 is not the age to bracket a cricketer to a category of ‘Finished Articles’, especially when it comes to his development in whatever aspect, least of all in terms of maturity as a man. Being mature and knowing your strengths and weaknesses goes a long way in cricket to helping consistent performance. In addition, it is difficult to judge a player based upon his performances in T20 cricket alone. It is nothing short of stupidity to term a cricketer as ‘World Class’ after a couple of hard hits in T20s.
And hence, the debate whether Quinton De Kock, the feisty left handed wicket keeping batsman of South Africa, has truly arrived on the international circuit. Quinton de Kock has been called a sensational talent and a potential international match-winner by some of the former greats.

Here are Quinton De Kock’s Statistics:

From the time of the U-19 Cricket world cup, From that time, he was being considered as one of the best emerging young batsmen in South Africa. He scored 95 off 131 balls in their first campaign against Bangladesh in the match where they won by 133 runs. In the second match against Namibia, he scored 126 off 106 balls and they won it also by a massive 209 runs. De Kock also scored a brilliant 50 during the 3rd place match of the tournament against New Zealand where they won by 8 wickets. He scored total 284 runs throughout the tournament and became the fourth highest run-getter there.

De Kock averages 55.70 in first-class cricket and has scored four centuries in 18 first-class games, including a phenomenal 194 against the Nashua Mobile Cape Cobras at the start of the 2012/13 season.

De Kock came to the spotlight after scoring a brilliant 51 not out off 33 balls in their first match for South African Highveld Lions against Mumbai Indians in Champions League Twenty20, 2012 in Johannesburg.

He has 2 centuries and 6 half centuries in T20 Cricket at an impressive strike rate of 136.81 and an average of 35.92. His ODI record is not so impressive considering he’s an opening batsman, with 1 century in 13 innings at an average of 30.69

In the past month he has blossomed for South Africa in ODI’s with scores of 34, 112 and 40.

He has also powered the Proteas to competitive scores in T20 internationals with an undefeated 48, 30 and a man-of-the-match 43 at the Wanderers against Pakistan.

So considering the performances, it is safe to say that this guy has some serious talent. What adds to his advantage is that he could be the solution to South Africa’s wicket keeping problem. With Boucher retiring, he could be the ideal replacement, also giving some much respite to AB De Villiers who was the interim wicket keeper.

Another point in his favour is the tremendous backing he’s been getting from some South African legends. His maturity and hard work has been the talk of the town. Neil McKenzie said that Quinton is a phenomenal talent and that he has not seen anybody who strikes the ball as cleanly as him.

Of course, it is also important to measure the improvements made by De Kock against the opportunities he has received to be properly tested. In UAE, he got to once again face Mohammed Irfan, who had tormented him the previous time that he had encountered the lanky fast bowler. Winning that duel will have done wonders for his confidence and will allow him to kick on to the next part of the test.

So is it time to push De Kock into the real form of cricket?? Yes, he deserves to be in the Test squad of South Africa. The experience he’ll get at such a young age would be really beneficial for him to develop as a cricketer and become the next Mark Boucher. With age on his side, Quinton de Kock has an excellent opportunity to really ‘Come of age’ at the highest level.