'I've left the door open': Rob Walter on whether Quinny will play for Proteas again

Proteas wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock's continued availability - or lack thereof - for his country in the shortest format of the game remains open-ended.

Having retired from Test cricket and One Day International cricket in installments (2021 and 2023, respectively) to spend more time with his family by only playing in T20 leagues around the world, De Kock had stayed on in the T20 international team.

His last match for his country was the World Cup final in which the Proteas were pipped by India in June.

Subsequent to that outing, the 31-year-old is no longer contracted by Cricket South Africa (CSA), which has raised questions about whether he may still play for the Proteas, especially seeing that he has been omitted from the T20I squad to play Ireland in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 27 and 29 September.

READ | Proteas rest key players to build squad depth ahead of Afghanistan, Ireland series 

Asked if there was clarity on a potential Proteas future for De Kock and whether he would want to be considered, Proteas white-ball coach Rob Walter admitted to being in the dark.

"I don't know, to be dead honest," began Walter.

"For the next little while, there'll be no conversations between me and Quinny as to whether he wants to play for South Africa again. I've left the door open for him to approach me if and when he wants to do that.

"That might never happen and there might be a conversation, but that doesn't necessarily mean it'll lead to him being selected. We have to allow him to have his space; he played for South Africa for a very long time and in a lot of World Cup events.

"So, for now, we just need to allow him to have his space to work through that and play league cricket and to do what he needs to do. And, as I've