Quinton de Kock, the South African keeper-batter lamented the fact that despite retiring from Test cricket, he still has a packed calendar ahead of him. With age catching up, the southpaw admits that he has to prioritize the things wanting from his career.

Quinton de Kock retired from Test cricket in December last year after the first Test against India at the Centurion. The 29-year-old cited the desire to spend time with his family as the reason behind quitting red-ball cricket and committed his availability to the ODI and T20I formats.

Quinton de Kock Reckons Quitting Tests Hasn’t Freed Up His Packed Calendar At Least In 2022

Speaking after the abandoned third ODI against England, Quinton de Kock said his calendar has still not freed up despite not playing Tests this year.

The Johannesburg-born player said: “It hasn’t freed up my calendar – at least not this year. I’ve been roped in to play a couple of leagues but that’s my own consequence. I am happy to do it. It’s still a sacrifice but I’m slowly getting to an age where I need to think about where I want to be in my career. As long as I can do it at my own pace, then I am happy.”

After his paternity leave, the southpaw played the white-ball matches against India in January at home and had two months before facing Bangladesh in another three-game ODI series. However, since then, he has been on the road.

The former white-ball skipper played the full IPL 2022 edition, followed by the five-game T20I series in India, and is now in England. He will also participate in The Hundred and CPL, followed by another white-ball series in India before the T20 World Cup in Australia.

The 29-year-old was supposed to miss the Test series against India on paternity leave but he decided to give up the longest format entirely. The announcement came after South Africa’s 113 run-loss against India in the Centurion Test as the visitors took a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series.

In his 54-Test career, Quinton de Kock scored 3300 runs with an average of 38.82 which included 6 hundred and he also effected 232 dismissals (221 catches and 11 stumpings) behind the wicket. He made his Test debut against Australia at Port Elizabeth in 2014.

In his Test career, he played some game-changing knocks down the track. His strike rate of 70.93 tells a story in itself. As a wicketkeeper, his dismissals per innings ratio (2.36) is the best for any wicketkeeper who played more than 5 Test matches.

Quinton de Kock Admits Cricketers Need To Take Decision To Retire From Any Of The 3 Formats Or Play All In A Hectic Calender

Quinton de Kock further claimed that playing three formats will be challenging for the cricketers and believes they may need to make a decision at some point as their age progresses.

“It’s going to start being tough for players – three formats is a lot and it looks like more games are happening over the calendar. Players need to make decisions individually and if they feel they can do it, I am happy for them. But guys need to take decisions into their own hands.”

The 2019 Word Cup final hero Ben Stokes on Monday made a surprise announcement to retire from the 50-over format, saying playing three formats has become “unsustainable” for him. Ben Stokes was out for just 5 in his final ODI. Appearing in his last ODI against South Africa at Durham on July 19, the 31-year-old couldn’t perform up to the expectations.

“For me, I am happy where I am. When you’re still young, you need to play all three formats and get certain things done in your career. It starts getting harder as you start getting older and the body doesn’t cooperate like it used to.”

Quinton de Kock stayed unbeaten at 92 in the third ODI against England in Leeds. South Africa reached 159-2 at 27.4 overs, however, persistent rain washed the game. As a result, the series stood at 1-1. Rassie van der Dussen earned the Player of the Series award.

South Africa batter Rassie van der Dussen has achieved his career-best third position in the ICC ODI rankings after his match-winning 134 against England in the first ODI. In the 2nd ODI, he scored a duck while scoring 26 in the rain-hit abandoned 3rd ODI against England.