Quinton de Kock playing for Sunrisers is part of a bigger picture

There is giggling and some tomfoolery coming from the next room where his fellow Sunrisers Eastern Cape teammates are undertaking a Betway SA20 photoshoot.

It’s the King brothers, CJ and JP, who both made their first-class debuts after De Kock had already retired from test cricket.

De Kock yells towards them. “Ssshh, keep it down there!”

He looks across towards the interviewer and shrugs his shoulders. “These youngsters of today…”

It’s almost inconceivable to hear De Kock converse in this manner, for he had almost always been the youngest in every team he played in. And even when he wasn’t anymore, those boyish baby-faced looks made him never look older than 21.

But De Kock is now a veteran. In fact, he has been around for so long that he’s been able to retire from international cricket and then come back again. And all of this after only recently celebrating his 33rd birthday.

Perhaps it's the fact that he’s a dad to four-year-old Kiara that’s brought these paternal skills to the fore, but De Kock certainly sees himself as a father-figure to especially rookie captain Tristan Stubbs at the Sunrisers.

“Obviously, there are a couple of youngsters around, the skipper (Stubbs) himself is still a youngster, and having been a young skipper myself, I think he'll need that sort of experience to guide him through the season,” De Kock said.

Stubbs has certainly been appreciative of De Kock sharing his wisdom, both on and off the field, in the Sunrisers’ first two matches.

“He's been so good,” Stubbs said. “I think we have a direct line of communication between every over just to make sure we're thinking the same. He's been really invested in team talks, before the games, prepping well.”

YEARNING FOR STABILITY

However, even at this advanced stage of his career, it was De Kock who was searching for some guidance of his own.

Before his shock international retirement reversal in September this year, he was wandering the T20 global circuit aimlessly. Moving from one franchise team to the next, playing in a different league every other month. He yearned for stability, to be part of something bigger than himself, and most importantly, be around people that he trusted.

So, when the Sunrisers, coached by his former Proteas mentors Adrian Birrell and Russell Domingo, picked up the southpaw at the Season 4 Player Auction, it was a match made in heaven.

“Obviously, my relationship with Adi and Russ comes from Proteas days. I think myself and Birrell even were before Proteas days, probably school cricket days,” he said.

“I think playing for them is a bigger picture, you know, it's always nice playing for guys that you enjoy and love.

“Your heart sits differently with how you want to play a season. So, for me to be here and play for them is probably exactly what I need and what I want.”

The results have been outstanding with De Kock topping the Betway SA20 run-scoring charts after two matches with 119 runs at an average of 59.50 and strike-rate of 167.60 to lead the Sunrisers to two consecutive bonus point victories - the two-time champions’ best-ever start to the competition.

In typical De Kock fashion, he is not overthinking it too much, though, and prefers to stay in the moment.

“It's not really a form thing and it's not about confidence or unconfident thing, it's just about trying to score runs ultimately for the team, because I'm pretty open-minded, whether you have confidence or not, things can change,” he said.

“I've played this game too long where I know things can change in a heartbeat, quickly for you. If you get over-confident, Mother Cricket has a way of bringing you back down to earth.

“So it's not about a form thing, it's just about staying mentally ready and just understanding the game, that's all.”

De Kock has ingratiated himself in orange, from the fans, to his fellow players and with his on-field performance

The ‘Orange Army’ at St George’s Park certainly warmed up quickly to the dashing left-hander, cheering on every one of his 77 runs on his home debut on Monday, with the brass band hitting up their famous tune of “De Kock, jou lekker ding” as he went past his half-century.

“It's been lekker. I used to love playing test matches here. They were always amazing. I've had some great games here,” he said.

“So, coming here for SA20 with my past team, it was quite depressing. They're just going against me now. It feels wrong. I thought I was on their team.

“But now, it's nice to be back here with the Sunrisers and have them back on my side. And that amount of support. I've got an eye-opener for myself. Coming here and there's guys coming to watch the warm-up games.”

De Kock will be hoping to get the festivities going again when the Sunrisers host the Paarl Royals at St George’s Park in the much-anticipated New Year’s Eve clash on Wednesday.