Quinton de Kock has given a clarification on why he refused to take the knee during the 2021 edition of T20 World Cup. The incident happened during a match between South Africa and West Indies.
His decision to not take the knee was viewed as him being not concious to and supportive of the movement Black Lives Matter that took the world by storm after George Floyd, a 46-year old man was murdered by a Minneapolis city police officer.
Citing the reason on The BBC Stumped Podcast, de Kock said that he wanted to take a stand for his team-mates and their rights to have individual choices. The 30-year-old felt that Cricket South Africa was interfering with individual rights of the players.
“We are not pawns of CSA”, De Kock remarked on the Podcast. At the time, South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma said that it was Quinny personal choice to not take the knee.
De Kock had to miss the South Africa’s opening match against West Indies due to his stance. De Kock’s recent clarification indicates that it was only a misunderstanding that portrayed him as the antognist in the media.
Only after De Kock provided a written affirmation that he was not a racist nor he held any kind of discriminatory views, he was called back to be part of Proteas for the rest of the World Cup.
De Kock mentioned that it was matter of personal choice when the Black Lives Matter thing came up, every member of the South African team had his own views. “A couple of us made a decision not to get on the knee, but we were in support of the guys who were because we understand their background,” De Kock said.
He also stated that the orders came from the top as a instruction to act in a certain way which he perceived as interference by the CSA in team’s culture. “They should be worried about bigger things than the protests, it just didn’t sit right with myself and couple of other guys in the team,” De Kock added.
The order from the top was much like an imposing and arbitrary decision that stood against his rights as an individual player of the team. Referring to the CSA, De Kock said, “You think you can tell a player what to do, you expect them to listen to you. I can promise you that most players will turn around to you and say no, that’s not how it works.”
Unfortunately for South Africa, De Kock will retire from ODI cricket after the conclusion of Men’s ODI World Cup 2023. He retired from test cricket after birth of his daughter in December 2022.
