[imagesource: Twitter / @DineshKarthik]

On Tuesday, even as the Proteas put on a clinical showing against the West Indies in their second T20 World Cup match, Quinton de Kock’s decision to withdraw himself from selection “for personal reasons” dominated the headlines.

It was soon made clear that those “personal reasons” were in relation to a directive from the Cricket South Africa board that every member of the men’s national cricket team takes a knee before the start of the match.

In the past, the wicketkeeper-batsman has not taken the knee, choosing instead to either raise a fist or stand with his hands at his side.

So much has been said and written about de Kock’s withdrawal from the team since Tuesday, so rather than revisit that we’ll present Quinny’s statement in full.

Scroll through the screenshots:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Quinton De Kock (@qdk_12)

You can also read the statement transcribed in full on Sport24 here.

The Proteas take on Sri Lanka on Saturday, and it appears as though Quinny would take a knee if selected, judging by this part of the statement:

“If me taking a knee helps to educate others, and makes the lives of others better, I am more than happy to do so.

In all of this, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that Cricket South Africa has had another shocker.

The organisation has had months to make a call on this, and have open, informed dialogue with the team and the public, but saw fit to issue the directive hours before Tuesday’s match.

A vital match under any circumstances, but especially given the fact that we lost our opener to Australia.

From here on out, should he find his way back into the team, let’s hope Quinny’s bat does the talking.

[source:sport24]