Quinton de Kock makes dramatic about-turn in return to Proteas

Quinton de Kock has reversed his decision to retire from international cricket and has been included in the Proteas' T20 and 50-over squads for the Proteas tour to Pakistan next month. 

De Kock, 32, has been mulling over a return for a few months and has signed a contract with the DP World Lions, where he started his professional career as a 16-year-old in 2009.

De Kock last appeared for the Proteas in the final of the T20 World Cup in Barbados a year ago, and then stepped away from the international arena. He had retired from Test cricket in the middle of a series with India in 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, citing family commitments, shortly before the birth of his daughter.

Before the 2023 ODI World Cup he announced he would be retiring from the 50-over format after the tournament. De Kock was magnificent in the competition, scoring four centuries to help SA reach the semifinals, where they lost dramatically to Australia in Kolkata.

He played 155 ODIs, 92 T20Is and 54 Tests.

It’s understood De Kock held private talks with Enoch Nkwe, CSA’s director of national teams, Lions coach and former Proteas head coach Russell Domingo and Lions CEO Jono Leaf-Wright about mapping a path towards a return.

De Kock has featured prominently in franchise leagues around the world. This year he’s played in the SA20, IPL and Major League Cricket and most recently in the Caribbean Premier League, where he scored 208 runs in nine innings for the Barbados Royals, making two fifties.

The Sunrisers Eastern Cape, where Domingo is one of the assistant coaches, signed De Kock for R2.4m for next season’s SA20.

With a T20 World Cup next February, De Kock’s return will widen the options for Proteas head coach Shukri Conrad and selection convener Patrick Maroney. Conrad said after SA drew this month's T20 series with England the SA20 would provide him with “a big lens into where guys are at” before the World Cup, and with De Kock back in contention, it adds an extra layer of intrigue for the tournament.

Temba Bavuma will miss the tour to Pakistan to continue his recovery from a left grade two calf strain sustained during the recent tour of England. In his absence, Aiden Markram will lead the side.

Markram, along with Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Wiaan Mulder and Marco Jansen will miss the T20 and ODI series in Pakistan as part of a workload management programme ahead of the Proteas tour to India. David Miller will lead the T20 side in a three-match series and Matthew Breetzke will do the same in the ODIs.

There was also a recall for Simon Harmer, who joins a spin group that includes Senuran Muthusamy and Prenalen Subrayen and who successfully passed tests of his action conducted by the ICC in Brisbane. Keshav Maharaj is recovering from the groin injury he picked up in England and is only available for the second Test.

Harmer, 36, played the last of his 10 Tests against the West Indies in 2023. Zubayr Hamza, after a good season with the Lions, also earns a recall to the Test squad. He last played on the infamous New Zealand tour in 2023, when SA picked a third-string team while the contracted Proteas were involved in the SA20.

Donovan Ferreira will captain an inexperienced squad for one T20 against Namibia on October 11.

Proteas Test squad against Pakistan

Aiden Markram (capt), David Bedingham, Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Tony de Zorzi, Zubayr Hamza, Simon Harmer, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj*, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tristan Stubbs, Prenelan Subrayen, Kyle Verreynne.

*Second Test only

Proteas T20I squad against Pakistan

David Miller (capt), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Donovan Ferreira, Reeza Hendricks, George Linde, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi, Nqaba Peter, Lhuan-dré Pretorius, Andile Simelane, Lizaad Williams.

Proteas ODI squad against Pakistan

Matthew Breetzke (capt), Corbin Bosch, Dewald Brevis, Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Tony de Zorzi, Donovan Ferreira, Bjorn Fortuin, George Linde, Kwena Maphaka, Lungi Ngidi, Nqaba Peter, Lhuan-dré Pretorius, Sinethemba Qeshile.

Proteas T20I squad against Namibia

Donovan Ferreira (capt), Nandre Burger, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock,Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Rubin Hermann, Kwena Maphaka, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Nqaba Peter, Lhuan-dré Pretorius, Andile Simelane, Jason Smith, Lizaad Williams.