Australia v South Africa: Number expose captain Dean Elgar’s miserable tour

Proteas captain Dean Elgar was the one batter with a strong record coming to Australia. Five innings later, the skipper is heading towards a record low, writes DANIEL CHERNY.

Dean Elgar’s tour, like many of his teammates, has been a forgettable one. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

The captain goes down with the ship, and few captains have gone down quite as miserably as Dean Elgar has on this tour of Australia.

A South African side whose batting shaped as a major Achilles heel heading into this series badly needed its skipper to show some resistance. None was forthcoming.

Elgar, 35, has 46 runs at 9.20 in this series, and he’s lucky his average has even been that high. He was run out for 26 on Boxing Day, but only after he’d been dropped twice and had a delivery from Scott Boland hit the stumps but not knock off the bails. Even on Saturday at the SCG he survived a lengthy line-ball deliberation over whether Steve Smith had hung onto a low catch in the cordon.

Eventually, he was bounced out by the returning Josh Hazlewood for 15.

Josh Hazlewood celebrates Elgar’s wicket at the SCG. Picture: David Gray/AFP

Glenn McGrath would ceremonially identify an opposition batter, generally one of the senior players, ahead of major Test series as part of the Australian golden generation’s psychological warfare.

While such mind games are no longer played by the Aussies, it is perhaps fitting to see Elgar keep struggling at the Test honouring McGrath’s charity work, because if the paceman was still playing, the South African captain would have made for a logical target for the metronome.

The Proteas’ batting line-up is not young – itself a worry – but nor is it experienced at Test level. Temba Bavuma is playing his 54th Test with just one century to his name but the rest of the current top six all debuted in 2019 or later. Elgar entered this series with 79 Tests and averaging in the high 30s with 13 tons. The tourists stood no chance unless he stood up against an outstanding Australian attack.

It was a heavy burden, but such is the captain’s lot. Many touring captains have left Australia with tails between their legs, unable to provide fight on one of cricket’s most enduringly challenging tours.

Elgar found himself dodging another Australian fast-bowling barrage. Picture: David Gray/AFP

Kane Williamson, MS Dhoni, Andrew Flintoff, Jimmy Adams and Azhar Ali are just a sample of the many Test skippers whose patchy performances have matched those of their teams when up against the force of the baggy green under a hot Australian sun. Or even in overcast and slow-to-dry Sydney.

Elgar’s record thus far is right up there, or down there, with the worst of them. Of recognised batting captains over the past century to lead their sides in two or more Tests Down Under, only Sri Lanka’s Dinesh Chandimal, who averaged 6.00 across four digs in early 2019, has fared more poorly than Elgar.

In a strong team, Elgar would be the stodgy opener who sees off the new ball and can play fourth or fifth fiddle to those lower down. Indeed there is probably no greater indictment of this South African side than to say that Elgar is clearly the side’s most decorated batter.

Elgar’s experience meant his side required more from him against Australia’s lauded bowling attack. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

The revolving door at first drop – Rassie van der Dussen to Theunis de Bruyn and now Heinrich Klaasen – speaks of a selection panel picking players in the faint hope of success rather than with any grand plan or expectation of consistent performance.

The man with one of the toughest tasks in international cricket, South African batting coach Justin Sammons, said Elgar would keep pressing.

“It hasn‘t quite gone [Elgar’s] way,” Sammons said at stumps on day three, before the captain’s latest failure.

“Sometimes you do need things to go your way. It‘s a game of fine margins.

“But he‘s a fighter. The tour’s not over for him yet.

“He‘s trying his best. We back him. He’s key to our batting unit.”

More broadly there are systemic issues in South African cricket that raise doubts as to whether the Proteas will again be able to produce a bevy of world-class Test batters.

Elgar has rarely looked comfortable at the crease. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“What’s very important to realise is that there is no substitute for experience and you only gain that from playing,” Sammons said.

“The more you play, the more experience you get and the more lessons you learn.

“As a country, we need to look at how we look after the four-day system going forward. With the way the world is going, it’s a tricky balancing act, but we do need to find a way.

“The bottom line is that the players need to play as much cricket as possible. We’ve got to think out of the box, whether that’s the board or the director of cricket.

“But there has to be a way. We can’t just resign ourselves to T20 dominating and not playing enough first-class cricket. I believe the key for us is playing more four-day cricket.”

Originally published as Australia v South Africa: Number expose captain Dean Elgar’s miserable tour