Claims de Kock stance aimed at Cricket South Africa not anti-racism gesture

Questions have been raised about the motivations of Quinton de Kock in refusing to take a knee, as Cricket Australia’s head of diversity and inclusion says the organisation will let its players make their own decisions on the issue of race.

Sources with knowledge of the situation say the Proteas wicketkeeper’s stance, which has overshadowed events on the field at the Twenty20 World Cup, is targeted at Cricket South Africa, which made it compulsory for all players to take a knee.

As of Wednesday night (AEDT), de Kock was still with the South African team at its hotel, and in the process of finalising a statement to explain why he did not fall in line with his national board’s directive, a source in the camp said.

Australia captain Aaron Finch was to have a discussion with his Sri Lanka counterpart Dasun Shanaka before the two sides decide if they will take the knee before their game on Friday morning (AEDT).

The Australians have resolved to take a knee in solidarity with each team they play at the World Cup. Sri Lanka have a similar view, with neither them or Bangladesh taking a knee in their game this week.

De Kock sensationally withdrew from the Proteas team to play the West Indies on Tuesday night after CSA ordered players to take a knee “in a united and consistent stance against racism”.

South Africa players had been divided on making the global anti-racism gesture in the game against Australia, with some taking a knee, others standing with their fist raised and some distancing themselves from the issue by standing with their hands behind their backs.

Supporters of de Kock, who counts Kagiso Rabada as a close friend, say the gloveman is sympathetic to the cause but did not take a knee as he feels it is tokenistic.

There is also a belief de Kock’s defiance is linked to CSA’s decision in March to strip him of the captaincy across all three formats. There was an expectation de Kock would remain at the helm of the white-ball teams, but head selector Victor Mpitsang said he had not been fired but that there was an agreement for him to step away from the captaincy.

South African journalist Lungani Zama backed de Kock on Wednesday.

South African players before their match against Australia.Credit:Getty Images

“I’ll qualify it by saying Quinton de Kock, if you’re asking me if he’s racist or against Black Lives Matter, I’ll unequivocally say no because I know him personally,” Zama said on SEN.

“I know the work that he’s done to improve the lives and experiences of black players and black people around him for years and years, long before Black Lives Matter was a trend on social media.

“I think because their constitutional rights were taken away from them, it was an instruction from the boss when it hadn’t been previously discussed.

“Added to that, from my conversations with him before, he sees it as a token gesture, which has been watered down to almost mean nothing. It’s something that you have to do to be seen to be doing the right thing.”

CA’s diversity and inclusion manager Rana Hussain said the governing body would not order players to do something they were not comfortable with, a position backed up by David Warner.

“Our approach is absolutely that our athletes have the freedom to make their own choices,” Hussain told the Herald and The Age. “Personally, I think that’s really important.

“From a Cricket Australia point of view we encourage our athletes to have a voice and make the choices they want to.

“The conversation being around force or not is really just missing the point. It’s how are we engaging in the conversation itself and nudging to a more progressive and safe place for everybody in sport.”

Malcolm Speed, a former chief of the ICC and Cricket Australia, is a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, but was critical of CSA for imposing on players an obligation to support a moral issue.

“Whether that’s right or wrong, there’ll be a lot of commentary on that, but my personal view is no, that cricket boards shouldn’t be able to go that far and direct players on ethical and moral issues,” Speed said on SEN.

“And if we think about other ethical/moral issues like sexism and homophobia, you could make a list of other issues like that, if we start telling players this is the view that you must take on these issues, that takes it a step too far in my view.”

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