JOHANNESBURG: Sou­th Africa captain Quinton de Kock will take a mental health break and skip the forthcoming domestic Twenty20 tournament on medical advice.

Andrew Breetzke, chief executive of the SA Cricketers’ Association (SACA), said de Kock would take time off from the game ‘for a few weeks’.

“SACA and Cricket South Africa will continue to support him through this process,” said Breetzke.

De Kock returned from Pakistan last week after leading South Africa in two losing Tests during which he struggled as a batsman and was criticised for captaincy.

De Kock, South Africa’s regular white-ball captain, agreed to skipper the Test side in a temporary capacity during the current season.

He acknowledged last month he was feeling the strain of living in bio-secure bubbles which are a reality for international cricketers during the Covid-19.

Speaking after captaining South Africa to a home Test series win against Sri Lanka, de Kock questioned sustainability of bubble life which he described as unsettling.

South Africa’s director of cricket Graeme Smith said earlier on Monday that all of the country’s contracted players would play in the T20 tournament, as well as the remaining matches in a four-day competition.

But it later emerged that de Kock and Faf du Plessis were not in the squads announced by the country’s six franchises for the CSA T20 Challenge. The reasons for du Plessis’ absence were not known but the former South Africa captain is due to play in the opening fixtures of the PSL for Quetta Gladiators.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2021