Quinton DeCock – Emergence of a quality batsman

In our age of Cricket, the cricketing prowess of a batsman is established by his hitting powers while the skills such as temperament, determination appear to have become a distant history. In such times of fast-food Cricket the heart of an ardent cricket fan that looks for quality softens a bit when he/she sees the emergence of a batsman who satisfies his inner thirst which defines the very purpose of his existence. The 20 year old South African wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton DeCock has acquired the focus of that keen follower who is craving to watch quality over quantity in this fast paced world.

DeCock’s recent centuries in the one day arena has proved that he posses those qualities required by a batsman to climb steep mountains in his international cricketing career. Couple of things that stand out in his batting are; a) his technique & b) his heart.

In the technical department DeCock has exhibited maturity above his age. The most difficult stroke to play technically is the cover drive that requires a fabulous hand-eye co-ordination besides a steady head and exceptional body position through nimble foot movement. In his short international career which span about a year or so, he has shown that he belongs to the class of Tendulkar and Richards while playing the cover drive. Also his wrist that generates enough power allowing the ball to gather momentum towards reaching boundary line has all but class written over it.

Although the inner mantle i.e. ‘Heart’, of DeCock is yet to be tested as the Indian bowling attack is not the one which can prove his competence in this area and also he needs to establish himself in test matches too. Still one can credit him for the matter that the South African team is going through a rough patch that has now lasted for more than a year and DeCock has answered all the critics in the best possible manner. 

Coming years would prove whether this little cricketer who has raised high hope in the mind of the astute cricket follower will acquire higher lengths in his cricketing career and while doing so would be a blessing for the cricketing fraternity itself, or else would be lost in the ‘speed of lightening’ like cricket played in his generation.

We await and wish Quinton DeCock to become and be known for the former.