Proteas cricketer Quinton de Kock unreservedly apologised to his teammates and South Africa for the racism row he caused earlier this week.
Quinton de Kock apologises to teammates and SA
In a statement released on his behalf by Cricket South Africa (CSA), De Kock explained that the decision he made to pull out of the World T20 clash against West Indies came after he felt his “rights were taken away when I was told what we had to do in the way that we were told.”
The controversy around De Kock started earlier in the week, at the start of the Proteas’ match against Australia. CSA had given players one of three options of showing solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement. Players either had to take the knee, stand with their fists raised in the air, or at attention.
The seemingly disjointed stance taken by the Proteas drew ire from spectators and South Africa’s cricket authority, in response, scrapped the options and made it mandatory for players to take the knee before every game.
“I did not, in any way, mean to disrespect anyone by not playing against West Indies, especially the West Indian team themselves. Maybe some people don’t understand that we were just hit with this on Tuesday morning, on the way to a game,” the cricketer explained.
Will De Kock feature in Proteas vs Sri Lanka?
De Kock admitted that the chaos caused by his decision to pull out from the West Indies game was avoidable and could have been meted out sooner.
“I understand the importance of standing against racism, and I also understand the responsibility of us as players to set an example. If me taking the knee helps to educate others, and makes the lives of others better, I am more than happy to do so,” he said
The cricketer unreservedly apologised to his teammates and left it to captain Temba Bavuma and the rest of the squad to decide on his fate in the cup competition.
The Proteas, who’ve had a decent run of games this past week, will face a tough fixture against Sri Lanka on Saturday 30 October 2021.
“I just want to thank my teammates for their support, especially my captain, Temba [Bavuma]. People might not recognise, but he is a flipping amazing leader. If he and the team, and South Africa, will have me, I would love nothing more than to play cricket for my country again,” De Kock pleaded.
It remains to be seen if De Kock’s name will be included in the team sheet this weekend.