Dean Elgar (born 11 June 1987) is a South African
cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
er who played
Tests
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film) ...
and
ODIs
ODIS, or the Offender Data Information System is a web based, computerized records management software application to improve the capture, maintenance and quality of law enforcement data that is capable of running in any combination of centraliz ...
, and also a former Test captain. He is a left-handed
opening batter and a
slow-left arm bowler.
Elgar captained the
2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup
The 2006 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup was played in Sri Lanka from 2 to 15 February 2006. It was the sixth edition of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup.
The final was played between Pakistan and India in Colombo, which Pakistan won by 38 runs, e ...
in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
in 2006. He now plays for the
Northerns cricket team
Northerns (formerly North Eastern Transvaal and Northern Transvaal) has played first-class cricket in South Africa since December 1937. Its territory is the area north of Johannesburg, including Pretoria.
For the purposes of the SuperSport Ser ...
and
Titans cricket team in the major South African cricket competitions. He was included in the Northerns team for the 2015
Africa T20 Cup. On 23 March 2018, he became the second batsman after
Desmond Haynes to carry his bat through an innings on three occasions in Test cricket history.
In March 2021,
Cricket South Africa
Cricket South Africa aka CSA is the governing body for both professional and amateur cricket in South Africa. In 1991, the separate South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board merged to form the United Cricket Board of South ...
announced that Elgar had been appointed as South Africa's Test captain, taking over the role from
Quinton de Kock.
International career
Debut years
Elgar was selected for the Sri Lankan ODI series in early 2012 but had to withdraw citing injury. He eventually made his ODI debut against
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
in a rain-abandoned match, but found success in his second match, scoring 15 in his maiden innings before being bowled by
Graeme Swann. Bowling his left-arm spin, Elgar had
Craig Kieswetter caught out off only his third delivery in ODI Cricket. In the field, Elgar took an incredible catch of
Jonathan Trott
Ian Jonathan Leonard Trott (born 22 April 1981) is a South African-born English former professional cricketer who played international cricket for the England cricket team and is the current head coach of the Afghanistan cricket team. Domestical ...
then caught
Eoin Morgan
Eoin Joseph Gerard Morgan (born 10 September 1986) is an Irish-born English former cricketer and current commentator. He captained the England cricket team in limited overs cricket from 2015 until his international retirement in June 2022. He ...
out in a South African victory.
Elgar made his test debut against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
on 30 November 2012 and scored a duck in his maiden test innings. He followed this with another duck in the second innings to complete a pair of ducks on debut. On 12 January 2013, Elgar scored his maiden test century against
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. The retirement of
Graeme Smith
Graeme Craig Smith (born 1 February 1981) is a South African cricket commentator and former cricketer who played for South Africa national cricket team, South Africa in all formats. In 2003, he was appointed Captain (cricket), captain of the So ...
created a regular opportunity for Elgar in his specialist position at the top of the order in Test cricket.
Elgar made 103, against Sri Lanka on 16 July 2014, and followed up with 121 against West Indies at
St George's Oval, a ground where he scored almost half of his career international test runs, and recorded the most fifties.
Record opener
On 28 December 2015, Elgar became the first South African opener to
carry his bat in a Test innings since
Gary Kirsten in 1997, when he finished 118 not out
against England.
On 5 November 2016, Elgar scored 127 during the first Test
against Australia at
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
. The partnership of 250 by himself and
JP Duminy in the match was recorded as South Africa's highest partnership in Perth, the third highest overall in Perth, and their second highest against Australia.
On 11 March 2017,
against New Zealand he became the first South African opener to face 200 or more balls in both innings of a Test.
On 27 January 2018,
against India Elgar became the first South African to
carry his bat twice in Tests since 1992.
On 23 March 2018, Elgar carried the bat for the third time in his test career scoring an unbeaten 141
against Australia when South Africa was bowled out for 311 in the first innings of the 3rd test, equalling the record with
Desmond Haynes of West Indies. With this achievement, he also became the only batsman to carry his bat in an innings of a test match twice in a single calendar year.
Captaincy

Elgar stood in for regular Test captain
Faf du Plessis
François "Faf" du Plessis ( ; born 13 July 1984) is a South African professional cricketer and former captain of the South Africa national cricket team. He is considered one of the greatest fielders of all time and among the best all-format ...
when he missed the first Test against England in 2017, following the birth of his first child.
In January 2019, during
Pakistan series, South Africa's captain Faf du Plessis was penalised for a slow over-rate in the second Test and was suspended for the third and final Test of the series. Elgar was named as the stand-in captain for the third Test. He took over as full-time test captain, following the resignation of
Quinton de Kock from the position. His first test as captain came against the West Indies in June 2021. South Africa won this match by an innings and 63 runs and then won the following test by 158 runs, giving Elgar a 2–0 victory in his debut series as captain. In January 2022, during the
2021–22 Indian tour of South Africa Elgar scored an unbeaten 96 in the second test to guide South Africa to a seven wicket victory and draw the series level. On 3rd January 2024, Elgar played his last test for
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
against
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, which concluded on 4th January, at Newlands in Cape Town, before retiring from international cricket.
Domestic and franchise cricket
In September 2019, Elgar was named in the squad for the
Tshwane Spartans
Tshwane Spartans were a city-based franchise team of the South African Mzansi Super League (MSL) Twenty20 cricket tournament. The team was based at SuperSport Park in Centurion.
Tshwane Spartans played in the first two editions of the MLS in ...
team for the
2019 Mzansi Super League tournament. In April 2021, he was named in
Northerns' squad, ahead of the 2021–22 cricket season in South Africa. In February 2022, Elgar was named as the captain of the
Titans
In Greek mythology, the Titans ( ; ) were the pre-Twelve Olympians, Olympian gods. According to the ''Theogony'' of Hesiod, they were the twelve children of the primordial parents Uranus (mythology), Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth). The six male ...
for the
2021–22 CSA T20 Challenge.
List of international centuries
Elgar has scored 14
centuries (100 or more
runs in a single
innings
An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). In cricket and rounders, "innings" is ...
) in
Test
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film) ...
. Elgar made his Test debut against
Australis at
the Waca,
Perth
Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
in November 2012.
His highest Test score of 199 came against
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
at the
Senwes Park,
Potchefstroom
Potchefstroom ( ; ), colloquially known as Potch, is an college town, academic city in the North West (South African province), North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstro ...
in September 2018. He has not scored any century in
One Day International
One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...
(ODI) matches or
Twenty20
Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...
International (T20I) matches.
See also
*
List of cricketers who have carried the bat in international cricket
References
External links
*
Dean Elgars profile page on Wisden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elgar, Dean
1987 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Welkom
South African cricketers
Free State cricketers
Knights cricketers
21st-century South African sportsmen
South Africa Test cricketers
South Africa One Day International cricketers
Somerset cricketers
Surrey cricketers
South African expatriate cricketers in England
Titans cricketers
Tshwane Spartans cricketers
South Africa Test cricket captains
Essex cricketers