Quinton de Kock withdraws from T20 match following directive to take knee

South African cricketer Quinton de Kock withdrew from Tuesday's Twenty20 World Cup match hours after his nation's cricketing board issued a directive for the entire Proteas team to unite and "take a knee" against racism.

South Africa's wicketkeeper-batsman – de Kock withdrew just before the start of a T20 world cup match against the West indies on Tuesday – citing "personal reasons".

The decision came hours after Cricket South Africa (CSA) instructed the team to adopt "a consistent and united stance against racism" by taking the knee prior to the start of their remaining World Cup matches.

Previous to this – CSA had asked players to use one of three options: Take a knee, raise a fist or stand respectively with hands behind their back – the latter is what de Kock chose against Australia just a few days ago.

In hindsight, de Kock's choice wasn't good enough for the CSA and so they made a directive for all players to take a knee for subsequent matches.

The South African players were informed of this decision by the CSA board on the way to their match against the West Indies.

De Kock then decided to withdraw just before the match started – relying on captain Temba Bavuma to reveal his decision to the umpires at the coin toss.

Видео Quinton de Kock withdraws from T20 match following directive to take knee канала Sky News Australia