Twitter reacted with heavy hearts as South African star Quinton de Kock said goodbye to Test Cricket, just at the age of 29

In a major announcement, South African wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock announced his retirement from Test Cricket, just at the age of 29 years to “spend more time with his family”. de Kock was due to miss the second and third Test against India as he was on paternity leave. But now he decided to step away from the longest period entirely. He remains available to play white ball cricket for South Africa.

“This is not a decision that I have come to very easily. I have taken a lot of time to think about what my future looks like and what needs to take priority in my life now that Sasha and I are about to welcome our first child into this world and look to grow our family beyond that. My family is everything to me and I want to have the time and space to be able to be with them during this new and exciting chapter of our lives.”

de Kock in a statement

Quinton de Kock full statement

Quinton de Kock announced retirement from Test Cricket

Quinton de Kock began 2021 as South Africa’s temporary Test captain and ended it by retiring from the format. Quinton de Kock was one of the key players of the inexperienced Test Side. He will be clearly missed in the near future. de Kock scored 34 and 21 runs in the first Test against India which South Africa lost by 113 runs. Quinton was an experienced player in the South African batting lineup.

“It’s sad to lose a player of Quinton’s caliber at what we still see as the prime of his career and relatively young life, but family, as we all say here at CSA, is everything. He has been a loyal and proud servant of the Proteas team for the last seven years and we are glad that we have not lost him from the game entirely.”

CSA acting CEO Pholetsi Moseki

Here’s how twitter reacted after the announcement

Also Read: Quinton De Kock speaks up about Racism allegations

Quinton de Kock Test career

de Kock has a stellar Test career. de Kock made his Test debut against Australia in 2014. He played 54 Tests for South Africa scoring 3300 runs at an average of 38.82. He also has six centuries in the longest format. de Kock is a a prolific run scorer for South Africa. Interestingly, his first century came at the same ground he played his last Test – SuperSport Park. He scored 129* at No. 7 as South Africa beat England by 280 runs in 2016. Later that year, he scored a match winning hundred in Hobart, which helped South Africa to a third successive series win in Australia. He has 2nd most wicketkeeper dismissals for South Africa in Tests.