There is still no clarity on whether or not the former captain Quinton de Kock will be representing the Proteas again in the future.

The destructive left-handed batter hasn’t played for South Africa since the T20 World Cup final in Bridgetown and he wasn’t selected for the upcoming tour to the United Arab Emirates either.

De Kock is without a national contract after previously retiring from One-Day International as well as Test cricket.

Rob Walter. Picture: Morgan Piek

De Kock has been a part of the Proteas DNA for a very long time and he does prefer playing in the lucrative T20 leagues across the globe these days. While there is no doubt about his quality, the Proteas do have players such as Heinrich Klaasen and Kyle Verreynne who can fill the role. Klaasen is, however, not available at the moment because of a family emergency which saw him withdrawing from the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

The white-ball coach, Rob Walter, admitted that he and De Kock haven’t discussed the player’s international future yet.

“I don’t know, to be dead honest – as I said, for the next little while, there will be no conversations between myself and Quinny as to whether he wants to play for South Africa again,” said Walter. “I’ve left the door open for him to approach me if and when he wants to do that.

“That might never happen and there might be a conversation and also that conversation doesn’t actually mean it will lead to him being selected.

“We have to just allow him to have his space. He played for South Africa for a very long time. He played in a lot of World Cup events. For now, it’s just to allow him the space to work through that, to play league cricket, and to do what he needs to do. As I said, if that road brings him back to playing for South Africa, everyone benefits.

Heinrich Klaasen. Picture: Cricinfo

“In the meantime, we just have opportunities for guys like Kyle Verreynne, Heinrich Klaasen, and Ryan Rickelton as the men who can take the gloves and bat as well. What will become more and more important is performance. He is not exactly old, but from here on in it is a performance-based conversation.”

Meanwhile, the Proteas depart for the UAE on Saturday. South Africa will face Afghanistan in three One-Day Internationals, while they will play against Ireland in three ODI’s, as well as three T20 Internationals.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg/mvh