West Indies great Michael Holding is hoping Quinton de Kock recognises he made a "silly, dumb mistake" after refusing to take the knee at the T20 World Cup.
South Africa were without talismanic wicketkeeper De Kock for Tuesday's clash with West Indies after he refused to play for "personal reasons".
Cricket South Africa (CSA) later confirmed De Kock was absent for the Group 1 Super 12 match in Dubai due to his refusal of a board directive to take the knee, which has become a gesture of support and unity in the fight against racism.
De Kock issued an emotional statement on Thursday after productive talks with CSA as he promised to take the knee from now on, saying he was "deeply sorry for all the hurt, confusion and anger that I have caused".
Holding, who has regularly spoken about the need to combat racism, expressed his hope that De Kock will learn from the episode and deliver on his promise going forward.
"I don't know him well enough to say that what he did he meant," Holding told Stats Perform, when asked about De Kock's initial decision.
"What I am hoping is that he recognises he made a silly, dumb mistake by sticking to his principle of not taking the knee.
"If you believe in a cause, you do what everyone else is doing to support that cause. You don't automatically find your own way to support that cause because then no one will know you support it."
In the wake of George Floyd's death last year, Holding spoke powerfully about combatting racism, and his book Why We Kneel, How We Rise has been nominated for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2021 award.
"The worldwide accepted gesture for supporting Black Lives Matter and believing everyone's life is equal is to take the knee," Holding said.
"You don't say, I'm not going to do what everybody else in the world recognises as the way forward, that's not the way it works.
"You do what is accepted as the norm, the way that everyone has seen as the gesture to support the movement and that's all I'll say on the matter.
"If he can't understand that then I can't help him understand but one would hope, as I say, he just made a silly mistake and he now understands the reason behind it – if not, then I'll send him a copy of my book!"
It remains unclear whether De Kock will return to the Proteas side, who face Sri Lanka in their next group game on Saturday.
Dr. Donovan Bennett defeats Billy Heaven in JCA Presidential election
Dr. Donovan Bennett is the new president of the Jamaica Cricket Association after defeating Wilford ‘Billy’ Heaven at Thursday’s elections at the 20th JCA Annual General Meeting held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
Bennett, who served as JCA vice-president for 11 years, is set for his first term at the helm after a 67-30 victory.
Heaven served as JCA president for the last 10 years and was seeking a fifth term.
New Zealand take unassailable series lead after hard-fought victory over Pakistan
Pakistan slumped to a four-run defeat at the hands of New Zealand despite the efforts of Abbas Afridi and Fakhar Zaman.
The Black Caps took an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match T20I series, thanks in the main to Tim Robinson (51) and bowling duo William O'Rourke (3-27) and Ben Sears (2-27) on Thursday.
Set a target of 179 to win, Pakistan looked on their way to victory when Fakhar Zaman got going, but he was eventually dismissed on 61 by Sears.
Abbas took three wickets in New Zealand's innings, yet he could only contribute a single run to Pakistan's cause as the hosts fell just short in Lahore.
Data Debrief
Shadab Khan did not bowl a single delivery for Pakistan, which is the first time that has happened in a completed T20I innings.
He did take an exceptional catch to dismiss Mark Chapman, but it was not enough to inspire Pakistan.
IPL: Kohli and Patidar star to snap RCB's losing streak
Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended a six-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League by claiming a convincing 35-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Bengaluru still sit bottom of the standings, but have reason to cheer after Virat Kohli's 51 and Rajat Patidar's 20-ball 50 got the job done in style on Thursday.
Cameron Green chipped in with a useful 37 as RCB reached 206-7 from their 20 overs, and the Australian then took 2-12 with the ball as the Sunrisers failed to get going.
Shahbaz Ahmed top scored for Sunrisers with 40 not-out, but it was not enough as they only mustered 171-8 in response.
Data Debrief
Thursday's match marked Jaydev Unadkat's 100th in the IPL, and though he finished on the losing side, he did take a memorable three-for to celebrate the occasion.
It was Unadkat who dismissed Kohli, Patidar and Mahipal Lomror, finishing with figures of 3-30.
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