Good article with Dean Elgar (potentially a future SA test opener and captain)
Elgar striving for SA call-up
Dean Elgar tends to overdo things.
09 December 2011 | HEINZ SCHENK
JOHANNESBURG - Dean Elgar tends to overdo things.
“When he was about 18 he reported for a national Under-19 camp. The problem was that he was almost 10kg overweight so we sent him away to work on his body,” reminisced current Proteas assistant coach Russell Domingo, who’s dealt with the Knights’ lynchpin at youth and ‘A’ level.
“Dean came back after a while looking much leaner but he’d overdone it a bit. Now he was almost 5kg underweight!”
At least it’s one of the left-hander’s most endearing qualities.
“He has this steely determination and great work ethic. That’s why he’s been able to express his talents so well these past few years. Many players don’t have the correct mindset to go with their innate abilities,” said Domingo.
Yet back in 2006, the future looked distinctly uncertain for Elgar and his national Under-19 lieutenants.
They had made the trek to Sri Lanka for the World Cup but some wildly capricious form saw them finish a poor 11th overall, the nadir being an agonising two-run defeat to lightweights Nepal in a plate semifinal.
Elgar finished with an unbeaten 66 in that match – and 246 runs at 61,50 in the tournament – but little credit ended up his way, let alone the team.
As the 24-year-old from a small private school called St Dominic’s in Welkom noted, that reverse had implications on their young careers.
“We were so inexperienced at that stage and really didn’t know how to handle this disappointment,” admitted Elgar.
“The cricketing fraternity tends to remember specific vintages. Two seasons before us AB de Villiers, JP Duminy and those guys swept everything before them as an Under-19 side. After us Wayne Parnell’s side reached the final of the World Cup. These were the guys people were talking about as the future stars.”
Indeed, at face value the prospects of a group that can’t even break into the top-10 at a showpiece aren’t considered rosy.
Elgar, with high standards drilled into him at a young age as well as a dash of healthy competition from his older brother, would be damned though if he subscribed to mediocrity after that disappointment.
“Never did I feel that my team-mates and I would eventually fall by the wayside. We actually were a side with big names but we just lacked the proper attitude to work hard,” he said.
“In fact, that World Cup probably made us realise the value of putting in the hard yards, especially since we would’ve needed to put in extra because we lost a bit of our credibility so to speak. Now most of my mates like Craig Alexander, Richard Levi, Jean Symes and Malusi Siboto are established players. Craig Kieswetter plays for England!”
Not that he’s averse to toiling hard.
As a schoolboy, Elgar credits former Free State off-spinner Louis Klopper as an integral part of his development.
“I came from a very small school and it was important to have a coach that’s passionate and insightful about the game. He played senior provincial cricket so he’s got good knowledge.”
The dusty mine town, however, simply isn’t the milieu for ambitious cricketers to spread their wings and after starting to play senior club cricket in grade eight, he expanded his horizons two years later by participating in the Bloemfontein club system.
“It was that real laaitie against men stuff,” chirped Elgar.
“But I’m glad I did it. It introduced me to the more rigorous aspects of the game and made up for me not going to a traditional cricketing nursery.”
All that has contributed to him making a rapid ascension in the South African playing hierarchy in the past few years, prompting national selector Vinnie Barnes to comment that he’s “pushing hard for a place” in the Proteas side.
Admitting that he favours the responsibility of opening an innings, which he does in four-day cricket, Elgar might find his bread properly buttered there in the national set-up given the struggles to find a partner for Graeme Smith in Tests – even though there’s a queue. But Domingo believes his profitable One-Day Cup campaign – 567 runs at 70,87 – enhances his claims to a spot in the middle-order as well.
“It’s interesting that he bats in different positions in the different formats. I think a spot for him in the middle-order of a side is good as he finds the gaps well and runs nippily,” he remarked.
“If anything, he lacks the power-hitting game required when batting at six but anything higher suits him well. He’s really knocking on the door.”
A reasonably unexplored aspect of Elgar’s game remains his leadership.
Articulate and a keen thinker, he’s already skippered South Africa ‘A’ on 2010’s tour to Sri Lanka and unlike other reluctant candidates is quite keen for such a role.
“I actually would really like to be a captain. It’s a responsibility I truly enjoy.”
That certainly thickens the plot.
