South Africa’s wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock left the cricket fraternity in shock as he announced his sudden retirement from the longest format of the game with immediate effect. The announcement of the retirement came hours after the Indian cricket team led by Virat Kohli defeated South Africa by 113 runs in the opening Test match of the ongoing three-match series in Centurion on Thursday.
The official Twitter handle of Cricket South Africa (CSA) released a statement by De Kock on Thursday revealing his decision to retire from the longest format of the game. de Kock revealed that he and his wife are expecting their first child and they are looking to grow their family beyond that. In the statement released by CSA, de Kock stated:
“This is not a decision that I have come to very easily. I have taken a lot of time to think about what my future looks like and what needs to take priority in my life now that Sasha and I are about to welcome our first child into this world and look to grow our family beyond that. My family is everything to me and I want to have the time and space to be able to be with them during this new and exciting chapter of our lives.”
“I love Test cricket and I love representing my country and all that it comes with. I’ve enjoyed the ups and the downs, the celebrations and even the disappointments, but now I’ve found something that I love even more.”
“In life, you can buy almost everything except for time, and right now, it’s time to do right by the people that mean the most to me.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been a part of my Test cricket journey from the very beginning. To my coaches, teammates, the various management teams and my family and friends – I couldn’t have shown up as I did without your support.”
de Kock, who made his Test debut against Australia in 2014, has played 54 Tests, scoring 3300 runs at an average of 38.82 with six centuries.
Further, in his statement, Quinton de Kock stated that though he is retiring from the longest format of the game, he will continue to play in the white-ball format of the game.
“This is not the end of my career as a Protea, I’m fully committed to white ball cricket and representing my country to the best of my ability for the foreseeable future.”
“All the best to my teammates for the remainder of this Test series against India. See you in the ODIs and T20s. Quinny.”
Here, check out the Tweet:
BREAKING: #Proteas wicket-keeper batsman, Quinton de Kock has announced his retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect, citing his intentions to spend more time with his growing family.
Full statement: https://t.co/Tssys5FJMI pic.twitter.com/kVO8d1e0Ex
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) December 30, 2021
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