OPENING SALVO

De Kock takes a dig at Shaun Marsh ahead of series opener

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on

"But I like to keep confident in my game, I don't like to get into my own shell," Quinton de Kock said. © Cricbuzz

Quinton de Kock, the pugnacious wicketkeeper-batsman, has fired the opening salvo ahead of what promises to be a feisty couple of months on the cricket field for South Africa and Australia. The two teams will face each other in a five-match One-Day International series in South Africa, starting Friday (September 30), before jetting back to Australia for a three-Test match series. Ahead of the first ODI in Centurion, the swashbuckling opener took suggestive jabs at Shaun Marsh, insinuating that the Western Australian batsman had used the excuse of a broken finger to miss the ODI series.

Marsh sustained the finger injury in Dambulla during the ODI series against Sri Lanka. He was scheduled to make a recovery in time for the tour of South Africa but had to replaced in the eleventh hour with fellow left-hander Usman Khawaja taking his place. De Kock's dig at Marsh came in response to a question pertaining to the home side's indifferent form in the last 12 months. South Africa lost Test series to India and England while limited-overs assignments at the World T20 and in West Indies brought no rewards either.

"Four months in India takes a lot out of you and it was straight from there to West Indies," de Kock said. "That's five months out of the country and constant cricket. It's tough. That's why I think some of the Aussies are blaming their fingers to go home early."

De Kock, who warmed up to the five-match series with a typically belligerent 88 against Ireland in the one-off game, will look to improve his record against Australia, which stands at an underwhelming one century from 11 matches at an average of 24.60. The Australian attack has a largely inexperienced look, with notable absentees in the form of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and James Faulkner, but the 23-year-old expects the tourists, even with the likes of Chris Tremain and Joe Mennie, to be at their incisive best.

"I've watched one or two overs in the Big Bash but that's different from what we're going to play now. It sounds like a good attack. Chris Tremain and (Joe) Mennie have done well in their domestic competitions. It's not like they're bringing guys against whom we can expect to chase down big scores or make big scores - they are Australian, so they'll put up a hard fight.

"But I like to keep confident in my game, I don't like to get into my own shell. My confidence will always be there. Even if we don't do well it'll always be there."

© Cricbuzz