Quinton de Kock retires from Test cricket to spend more time with family

South Africa wicketkeeper-batter Quinton de Kock has announced a shock retirement from Test cricket. The southpaw was part of the team that suffered a big 113 runs defeat against India in the first Test in Centurion. De Kock was set to miss the remaining two games of the Test series to be with her wife who is expecting her first child. However, the 29-year-old now wants to complete give up one Test format to give more time to his growing family. One of the other reasons that might have forced De Kock to take such a step could be the rise of COVID-19. De Kock has many times raised concerns about playing in bio-bubble. Situations started to improve a bit in the last few months but a new variant of COVID-19, Omicron has once again wreaked havoc and given the alarming situations, there are doubts if cricket can return to normal anytime soon.

De Kock released a statement and said he wants to spend more time with his family and focus solely on limited-overs cricket. “This is not a decision that I have come to very easily,” de Kock said in a statement issued by CSA. 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,” he added.

“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. 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.

“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,” he concluded.

De made his debut for South Africa in 2004 and went on to play 54 Tests, scoring 3300 runs at an average of 38.82, including two centuries.