South Africa’s opening batter and wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock has announced to retire from ODI cricket after the conclusion of the upcoming ICC Men’s ODI World Cup 2023 in India.
The news was confirmed by Cricket South Africa through a post on the social media platform ‘X’ (formerly known as Twitter).
🟡ANNOUNCEMENT 🟢
Quinton de Kock has announced his retirement from ODI cricket following the conclusion of the ICC @cricketworldcup in India 🏆 🏏
What's your favourite Quinny moment throughout the years ? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/oyR6yV5YFZ
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) September 5, 2023
The announcement came minutes after Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced a 15-member World Cup 2023 squad, featuring Quinton de Kock.
The 30-year-old wicketkeeper has represented South Africa in 140 ODI matches since his debut in 2013 against New Zealand. He accumulated 5966 runs in the format at an average of 44.85 and a strike rate of 96.08. He has 17 hundreds and 29 fifties to his name with a high score of 178 that came against Australia at Centurion in 2016.
He also led South Africa in eight ODIs, out of which they won four and lost three.
Quinton de Kock participated in two ODI World Cups in 2015 and 2019, scoring 450 runs in 17 outings at an average of 30 with the help of four half-centuries.
Commenting on De Kock’s decision to retire from ODIs, Director of Cricket Enoch Nkwe said: “Quinton de Kock has been a really good servant to South African cricket. He set the benchmark with his attacking batting style and was a key member of the squad for a number of years.
“He also wore the captain’s armband and that is an honour that very few people get to hold.
“We understand his decision to step back from ODI cricket and we want to thank him for his service over the years. We wish him well for the future but still look forward to seeing him represent the Proteas in T20I cricket.”
South Africa will kick off their World Cup 2023 campaign against Sri Lanka on 7 October at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
South Africa World Cup squad
Temba Bavuma (c), Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Sisanda Magala, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, David Miller, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Tabraiz Shamsi, Rassie van der dussen