South Africa: De Kock eager to score 'big hundreds' for the proteas

By Lynn Butler

Proteas skipper Quinton de Kock says he is eager to convert his promising starts into more hundreds for the national side.

Leading from the front, De Kock was the best South African batsman last summer, scoring 814 runs at an average of 40.80.

In his 16 innings' during the international season, the 27-year-old made seven half-centuries and scored his 15th ODI century against England.

De Kock admitted however that he was angry when he couldn't convert his Test fifties into tons.

"I think I played decently. There were sometimes when I was a bit grumpy when I wasn't converting all my starts into big scores, especially during the Test matches against England," said De Kock via audio from CSA.

"I still don't think it was bad. I still want to get better and start scoring big hundred's for the team. That's something I want to try to get going."

READ | De Kock on first summer as Proteas captain: I did okay

The Proteas, some of whom would've been competing in this month's Indian Premier League, are all safely in South Africa after their tour to India was cancelled.

Cricket South Africa effectively ended all forms of cricket on 16 March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

De Kock revealed that he has struggled to keep fit during South Africa's nationwide lockdown, which will come to an end on Thursday midnight.

"I'm trying to keep up with the fitness... and during a lockdown it is another thing," he said.

"I have a really small house and I'm limited to what I can do. I'll be fit but not at the fitness that I'll want it to be. This lockdown also takes a toil on you mentally to actually get yourself up and going."

De Kock also said that the team are in constant communication while practising physical distancing.

"I Face Time and chat quite a lot to the guys, we are good friends. We catch up and see what we get up to."

This article originally appeared on Sport24

Photo: AFP