Proteas coach Shukri Conrad: Who am I to stop Quinton de Kock coming back?

“I miss playing for South Africa.”

That’s all Proteas Men’s coach Shukri Conrad needed to hear to be interested in the rest of the call coming in at 2am. 

At the end of the phone was none other than Quinton de Kock, who felt the need to ring up Conrad all the way in Australia at that hour to urgently discuss his future.

"We got to Darwin, I just put my head to the pillow at about 2 in the morning when my phone rang, and it was Quinny," Conrad said, about the call on Monday.

"He just expressed the desire to play for South Africa again in both white-ball formats. We chatted for a bit and I said I'd come back to him in a couple of days. Then, I chatted to a few other people and the rest is history."

It was all rather bizarre considering the 32-year-old had retired from ODI’s after a splendid 2023 World Cup campaign in India, and had been considerably vague about his T20 International future after last year’s T20 World Cup final defeat to India in Barbados. 

With the emergence of a new generation of batters consisting of Dewald Brevis and Lhuan-dre Pretorius along with Ryan Rickelton and Matthew Breetzke finally starting to fulfil their promise after waiting in De Kock’s shadow for so many years, it seemed like the Proteas had moved on from De Kock. 

But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, De Kock has now made himself available to the national team across both white-ball formats again, having re-signed with his boyhood union, the Lions.

Conrad and men’s national convenor of selectors Pat Moroney have wasted no time in calling De Kock’s bluff by including the wicket-keeper/batter in both the ODI and T20I squads for the upcoming tour to Pakistan. 

"He called of his own free will and he expressed a desire to play for South Africa again," Conrad said.

"He said, 'I still think I've got a lot to offer. I miss playing for South Africa. I want to play for the Proteas and I think I can make a difference.' 

“Quinny and I had a little short time together during that England series right at the beginning of my tenure (January 2023) and he really enjoyed it but I don't know if that's anything to do with it. When someone of Quinny's calibre expresses a desire to play and he's on board full on, it's great. He wants to play for South Africa. Who am I to stop him?"

De Kock’s availability is certainly a boost to the Proteas’ chances in next year’s T20 World Cup in India and possibly even the home ODI World Cup in 2027. 

But Conrad stressed that he has not made any promises to De Kock to facilitate his return to international cricket regarding major tournament participation and that he will filter into the squads like any other player.

"There's nothing like, 'I'm only available for a World Cup,' or this or that. There are actually no strings attached," he said. 

"There's by no means any guarantees with regards to World Cups or anything. We've got a great opportunity to get him playing in this Pakistan series and then we'll see how this goes. 

"The questions were quite simply: why would you like to come back?

"Are you committing to all (white-ball) formats? So it's not just with the T20 World Cup around the corner. The guy's committed to playing all (white-ball) formats for South Africa, however we choose to use him.

“If everything adds up – form and fitness – then he obviously stakes a massive claim to be included in the T20 World Cup to start off with. There's a bit of water to flow under this bridge. I just think it's a start."

The Proteas will also field three different captains across the formats in Pakistan after Test and ODI skipper Temba Bavuma was ruled out through injury. 

Aiden Markram will lead the Test side, while Breetzke will take charge during the ODIs and David Miller returns to lead the T20 team. 

SOUTH AFRICA SQUAD ONE-OFF T20I v NAMIBIA 

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 

ONE-OFF T20I FIXTURE

First T20I: Saturday, October 11 @ Namibia Cricket Ground, Windhoek

SOUTH AFRICA SQUADS FOR TOUR OF PAKISTAN 

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

TOUR OF PAKISTAN FIXTURES  

Test series

First Test: Sunday, October 12 to Thursday, October 16 @ Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 

Second Test: Monday, October 20 to Friday, October 24 @ Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi

T20 International series

First T20I: Tuesday, October 28 @ Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, Rawalpindi

Second T20I: Friday, October 31 @ Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 

Third T20I: Saturday, November 1 @ Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore 

ODI series

First ODI: Tuesday, November 4 @ Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

Second ODI: Thursday, November 6 @ Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad

Third ODI: Saturday, November 8 @ Iqbal Stadium, Faisalabad