De Kock might be better than Gilchrist

It has been whispered, in quarters where such heresies are occasionally entertained, that South Africa’s Quinton de Kock might emerge as the most effective ‘keeper-batsman that world cricket has known since Adam Gilchrist.

But there is a growing body of evidence to suggest – at the risk of being sent to the tower for treason, especially on the day Gilchrist turns 45 – he will be even better.

Even before de Kock established himself as a class above all rivals involved in the current rain-affected second Test in Hobart by becoming the only batter thus far to score a century, his talent and temperament were spoken of in excited tones.

His burgeoning band of admirers thinking it prudent, however, to grant him more time to push his case, while the sceptics remain unwilling to acknowledge that such a force could arrive less than a decade after the Australian batting whirlwind bowed out.

After all, Gilchrist was agreed by most to have been a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer in light of the impact he made in both Test and limited-overs competitions.

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However, de Kock now demands comparisons for reasons that extend beyond his seemingly effortless, game-changing left-handed batting in the Proteas middle-order (at Test level) or as an opener (in ODIs) and acrobatically accomplished glove work.

Or, as was the case in challenging conditions in Hobart today and in Perth 10 days earlier when he went to the crease with his team reeling at 5-81 (and duly top-scored both times) as a steady and reliable presence when circumstances dictate.

For a start, he’s notably younger than when Gilchrist burst on to the scene.

Despite fancying himself as a fast bowler as a boy and having toyed with the notion of taking himself off to the US to pursue life as a professional baseballer, de Kock ultimately opted for cricket.

Or concedes that cricket chose him, initially as a batter and then as a wicketkeeper and it was in that dual role that he made South Africa’s under-19 team (which he captained for a while) at the age-level World Cup in 2012.

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Later that year, just four days after celebrating his 20th birthday, he took the gloves for his country in a T20 International against New Zealand at Durban when another of those once-in-a-generation players AB de Villiers who had requested a break from his arduous workload.

Gilchrist was a month or so short of turning 25 when he was called up to fill-in for injured ‘keeper Ian Healy and played a few games as a specialist batter before ascending the opener-keeper role he came to redefine for almost a decade.

Even though Gilchrist was installed at the top of the order on a whim during the tea adjournment of a one-day international by his then skipper Steve Waugh, his ability to hit the ball crisply over vast distances had him pegged as an international player of influence even before he rose to global celebrity.

Yet the immediate impact he made in the white ball game almost pales alongside de Kock, who has yet to reach the age at which Gilchrist became an Australian cricketer.

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“I don’t try and be like him (Gilchrist) or anything, it’s just the way I play,” de Kock said at the end of day three in Hobart where his game-high 104 in more than three hours and 144-run partnership with Temba Bavuma underpinned South Africa’s first innings lead of 241.

“I don’t see myself being like him, I just see the ball, hit the ball type thing.

“I have my own certain game plan and that’s the way I like to play.

“Some days I can get off to a good start and keep a good momentum for the team.

“Some days I’m going to need to grind it out.

“In certain conditions that will determine how I play I guess.”

The conditions at Blundstone Arena, tailor made for seam bowlers, have meant that no batter from either side had been able to find any fluency until the 23-year-old found rhythm this morning.

While conditions that invariably prevail in limited-overs games means the left-hander can tee off with impunity from ball one as Gilchrist was want to do, with the sort of effect that saw him land 16 boundaries and a jaw-dropping 11 sixes on a recent outing against Australia.

Indeed, in his 69 ODI appearances to date, almost exclusively batting at the head of the innings, de Kock has posted a remarkable 11 centuries (as well as eight half-centuries) – only his Proteas teammate Hashim Amla can claim an equal output at that stage of an ODI career.

The fact that he helped himself to 178 from 113 balls faced against Australia’s helpless bowlers at Centurion less than two months ago suggests he will be one of the abbreviated game’s most damaging practitioners for at least a decade to come.

At that same stage of his tenure, Gilchrist had plundered five hundreds (with a best of 154) and averaged 33.52 which is more than 10 runs per innings less than the mean return of his South African colleague.

For all his pyrotechnics in an outfit that claimed three consecutive World Cups from 1999-2007, it was Gilchrist’s contributions at a similarly destructive tempo in the Test arena that many argue was more influential.

His capacity to twist the stiletto in a flagging opponent after the top six batters had put them to the sword, as well as his willingness to scrap and stay with the tail on those rare occasions when the batters didn’t perform.

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As was the case at Dhaka in 2006 when his 144 out of a team total of 269 saved the Australians the humiliation of an historic Test loss to Bangladesh.

Yet few Test ‘keeper-batsmen have made the impact that de Kock has managed in 10 and a half Tests in that job (given that in his maiden Test, against Australia at Port Elizabeth in 2014, he played solely as a batter).

During which time he’s posted a pair of centuries, strung together five consecutive Test scores of 50-plus and averaged more at the same stage of his Test career than any past or present ‘keeper save for the man to whom he is most often compared.

After 11 Test matches, Gilchrist’s record showed 727 runs at 55.92 with a century and six 50s, along with a top score of 149.

While it’s not yet clear if de Kock will be required to bat a second time in this match that South Africa continues to dominate, his batting numbers already stack up more than favourably in his 11th Test outing.

He has now compiled more runs (783) at a comparable average (52.20) with twice as many centuries and as many 50s (six) as Gilchrist in his 11th Test as custodian with the gloves and gatekeeper to the tail with the bat.

Which is superior to the other most prolific ‘keeper-batsmen the Test game has seen – the West Indies Jeff Dujon (615 runs at 51.25) and Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal (741 at 49.40) – who settled into that role after beginning their careers as specialist batters.

And he’s reached 45 dismissals in his 11 and a half Tests (including the one in which he did not take the gloves), while Gilchrist reached that benchmark and de Kock’s fellow South Africa gloveman Mark Boucher (Test cricket’s most successful ‘keeper) got there inside nine.

Of course, a definitive verdict on whether de Kock becomes the other unparalleled ‘keeper-batsman of this lifetime won’t be passed down until he has performed for as long and as laudably as Gilchrist managed for a decade.

But in noting that he does not turn 24 until the middle of next month, by which time he will have played almost as many Tests as South Africa’s most capped player Jacques Kallis (165 Tests) at the same age, it is beyond refuting that he has time on his side.