Year in Review: Top ten batsmen in One Day Internationals in 2013

4. Quinton de Kock

Quinton de Kock – New kid on the block

The left-handed wicket-keeper batsman is the new star on the horizon for the Proteas. Along with David Miller, de Kock forms part of the new youth brigade that will go on to represent the national side for years to come.

Chosen ahead of the out-of-form Colin Ingram in the series against Pakistan in November, the Johannesburg native came into international recognition with a fluent three-figure knock in the fourth game – his first international hundred. He continued to play useful knocks in the rest of the series, displaying nimble feet against the spinners and taking the faster bowlers head-on.

Quinton plays most of his shots on the leg side, and is an exceptionally quick runner between the wickets. He is not afraid to use his feet against the quicks, as he recently showed in the series against India; three consecutive centuries against the ODI world champions is no mean feat.

A lithe, athletic presence behind the stumps, de Kock is very much in the same mould as his ODI captain AB de Villiers. If he is nurtured well, he may well become one of the mainstays in the Proteas’ limited-overs scheme of things.