Forget de Kock, remember Bavuma
South Africa have the right man in place to steer their ship through troubled waters
South Africa’s second match of the 2021 Twenty20 World Cup will long be remembered as the Quinton de Kock game.
Not because of what he did, but for what he steadfastly refused to do.
On October 26, when Quinton de Kock put his brothers in arms, his cricket board and, frankly, world cricket in a pickle by choosing to not play for his country rather than taking a knee, he sent out a message.
At one level, everyone should be given the choice to do as they please.
In this case, the choice he made was not just a bad one, it was pathetic.
If you want to be generous, de Kock did what he did in defence of free speech.
If you want to be neutral, he was just attempting to sit on a fence that had fallen years ago.
If you want to other him, he was a South African who neither took the time to understand what taking a knee was about nor bothered to be a part of a symbolic gesture.
In the lead up to this World Cup, the International Cricket Council sent out a request to all teams, requesting them to take a knee — without making it mandatory — not in reference to the Black Lives Matter movement, but to support of the ICC’s zero tolerance approach to racism.
Some of South Africa’s players chose to be different in their first match against Australia.
A few took a knee, others had a raised fist and some just stood to attention: all methods approved by CSA in November 2020.
But, the image just looked wrong on so many levels.
And so, on the morning of SouthAfrica’s next match, after meetings between key personnel, it was decided that a united front taking a knee was the need of the hour.
When de Kock decided that this was a bridge too far, he had let down himself, his teammates, his country and his game.
For a time now there have been whispers that de Kock has been looking to get out of playing for South Africa and focussing instead on franchise-based Twenty20 leagues.
But, franchise cricket may be independent of national cricket boards to a degree, but it does not exist in a vacuum.
Already, there are indications that the Mumbai Indians, who de Kock plays for in the IPL are squeamish about retaining him.
But, if anything, this should be remembered as Temba Bavuma’s moment.
Anrich Nortje was scheduled to front up for South Africa after he picked up 1 for 14 from his four overs but, to the credit of the think tank, they realised that there were questions that needed to be answered.
“With freedom of choice, as much as we decide what you want to do, we can’t escape the consequences of the choices and decisions that we make,” said Bavuma, in what he conceded was his toughest day as captain.
All through the interaction, Bavuma was composed, calm, mature and even magnanimous.
“As a team we’re obviously surprised and taken aback. Quinton is a big player for the team, not just with the bat but the role he plays from a senior point of view,” Bavuma said. “In saying that, Quinton is an adult. He’s a man in his own shoes. We respect his decision, his convictions. I know that he’ll be standing behind whatever decision that he’s taken.”
For a man still processing what was a sensitive development, Bavuma was understandably careful, but he was not cagey at any point, instead expressing himself clearly and confidently.
“There wasn’t a great deal of time for us to thoroughly discuss this matter. It was a matter of us digesting what we’ve been told and finding a way for us to move forward,” he said, having got to know of Cricket South Africa’s directive that the entire team should take a knee on the morning of their match and of de Kock’s withdrawal even later. “We’ve got a couple of days until our next game, and those days will be tough for the group, but I think guys will want to know in terms of his decision, they will use that time to find out, to find it out a bit better.”
Bavuma made it clear that he, and his team-mates were there for de Kock, despite what happened.
“I don’t know how far it’s going to develop. I mean, the decision that he’s taken is only today, so I can only speak about what happened today,” he said. “But as far as we stand, Quinton is still one of the boys, so whatever support he needs, whatever shoulder he requires from his teammates, we’ll be there for him.”