Domingo heaps praise on Rabada and De Kock

Proteas coach Russell Domingo has described Quinton de Kock as an "x-factor player". Photo: Christiaan Kotze/BackpagePix

Proteas coach Russell Domingo has described Quinton de Kock as an "x-factor player". Photo: Christiaan Kotze/BackpagePix

Published Feb 27, 2017

Share

JOHANNESBURG - The South African one-day machine rumbled on over the weekend with a comprehensive 159-run drubbing of New Zealand in Wellington.

It gave them a 2-1 lead in the five-match series, and reiterated the fact that Proteas’ coach Russell Domingo and his squad are building something that could yet mount the country’s most sincere challenge for an ICC trophy come June.

Central to those ambitions are two young men who seemingly have no concept of the word pressure. They exude calm and cool, and a maturity that ought to reside in players a lot longer in the tooth.

Naturally, Domingo could speak all day and night about Quinny de Kock and Kagiso Rabada, the jewels in the South African crown.

Indeed, he almost becomes a cricketing Mr Miyagi as he waxes lyrical about his pair of Karate Kids, who are destined to challenge for world honours for the next decade.

“He has got a phenomenal rate of transferring fifties into hundreds, so I’m sure he is disappointed that he hasn’t got a hundred because he is playing as well as he has ever played,” Domingo said of his destructive opening batsman.

De Kock’s numbers are truly astonishing, and the wonder has been that he is yet to convert one of his blistering starts into a hearty century in the land of the long white cloud.

“I suppose he would feel a little disappointed in the manner of some of his dismissals. That’s the nature of how he plays. He is such an aggressive player, and I by no means want to curb his natural instinct,” Domingo explained.

De Kock, at full, frenetic speed, is a sight to behold and a beast to contain, so the less said to him, the better. He doesn’t clutter the brain with too many plans. See ball, hit ball has served him well, and Domingo is happy to continue in that vein.

“He is an x-factor player, and some days he is going to get it wrong and that’s okay. But on the days he gets it right, he is going to win the game for you. He is still a baby, it’s hard to believe he is only 24.”

It is hard to believe indeed, but such has been his impact at the top of the order, he already has numbers that elevate him beyond careers that have long been completed.

“We have had some great players play international cricket for South Africa, who’ve got 10 or 11 hundreds in 200 games. He has 12 in 77. That’s a phenomenal return for a young player like that,” Domingo exclaimed.

The idea with De Kock is pretty simple. Just let him keep doing what he does so well, and he will come off more often than not.

Domingo’s other precious pup, of course, is Rabada. Fast bowlers, by nature, are more pernickety sorts. They are prone to more injury, but they are pure box-office when they charge in, and make grown men standing 22 yards away hop for their dear lives.

Rabada fits that bill but, lately, the South African brains-trust has sought to lessen his load, and manage their prized asset a little better.

“I read the other day that he bowled 200 overs more than anybody else in the last year. He is only 21,” Domingo warned.

“It’s a fine line between resting players and trying to win the series. You’ve got to try and manage that process quite carefully, particularly for a guy like KG,” Domingo said, explaining his quandary.

“It is hard to leave KG out of the next game in Hamilton. He is a seriously good bowler and it’s no coincidence that when he is back in the mix, we look a seriously good side,” he continued.

The best scenario for Domingo’s charges is to win the fourth one-dayer on Wednesday, and then oblige his other Karate Kid with a few days of sight-seeing in New Zealand.

Wax-on, wax-off. Game on, time off. It is a fine line, and Domingo – or Mr Miyagi, if you will – is tasked with finding that perfect balance.

Independent Media

Related Topics: