Quinton de Kock did not take part in South Africa’s Twenty20 World Cup match against West Indies, after apparently refusing to follow a team directive and take a knee before the match in Dubai.

The South Africa captain, Temba Bavuma, said De Kock had “made himself unavailable for personal reasons” before the coin toss at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Cricket South Africa (CSA) made the same announcement on their Twitter feed, with De Kock replaced in the starting lineup by Reeza Hendricks.

A subsequent CSA statement, tweeted after the match started, said: “Cricket South Africa has noted the personal decision by South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock not to ‘take the knee’ before Tuesday’s game against the West Indies.

“All players had been required, in line with a directive of the CSA Board on Monday evening, to ‘take the knee’ in a united and consistent stance against racism. This is also the global gesture against racism that has been adopted by sportspeople across sporting codes because they recognise the power of sport to bring people together.

“After considering all relevant issues, including the freedom of choice of players, the board had made it clear it was imperative for the team to be seen taking a stand against racism, especially given South Africa’s history. The Board’s view was that while diversity can and should find expression in many facets of daily lives, this did not apply when it came to taking a stand against racism.

“The board will await a further report from team management before deciding on the next steps. All players are expected to follow this directive for the remaining games of the World Cup. CSA thanks all other Proteas players for agreeing to unite and make such an important public stand against racism.”

De Kock has yet to comment on his absence from Tuesday’s game, but has declined to take a knee before games in the past, calling it in June “my own personal opinion … it’s everyone’s decision. No one is forced to do anything.”

The CSA chairperson, Lawson Naidoo, has previously said commitment to overcoming racism “is the glue that should unite” the team. “Diversity can and should find expression in many facets of our daily lives, but not when it comes to taking a stand against racism”.

South Africa went on to win the match by eight wickets. Hendricks hit 39 off 30 balls as they successfully chased down their target of 144. Aiden Markram (51 not out) and Rassie van der Dussen (43 not out) saw the South Africans home for the loss of just two wickets with 10 balls to spare.

Evin Lewis top-scored for the West Indies with 56 – one more run than their entire team managed in the crushing defeat by England on Saturday – but the end result was the same as their hopes of reaching the semi-finals took another hit.

Source: The Guardian

Powered by NewsAPI.org