Dean Elgar expressed his excitement at the possibility of opening the batting with his ‘best mate’ Heino Kuhn.

Kuhn is the strong favourite to open the batting for the Proteas in their opening Test at Lord’s, starting on 6 July against England, and had a good run of form for the Titans as well as for SA A.

The 33-year-old smashed a double century against Hampshire and 105 against England Lions on SA A’s England tour.

He also racked up 1, 126 in the 2015-16 Sunfoil Series, and 527 in the 2016-17 campaign.

Elgar, who has been selected as the interim captain for their warm-up match against the English Lions, is relishing the idea of opening with his Titans teammate.

‘Heino is a highly experienced player back home. He’s played a lot of seasons of cricket, so he is quite comfortable with his game plan at the moment,’ Elgar told the media in Worcester on Wednesday.

‘It’s great to see him finally get an opportunity and it’s quite exciting because he brings a lot of energy to the team and it’s good to see a new face. I hope he has a great Test career.’

Elgar continued by acknowledging the friendship they share.

‘Heino and I are the best of mates and have been for many years. We’ve opened the batting back home, so he is not unfamiliar to me,’ said Elgar.

‘I’m sure our chemistry will go out on to the field.’

Kuhn has played 133 first-class matches and has scored 9, 301 @ 44.71.

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