Dean Elgar refuses to be overwhelmed by the Lord’s atmosphere and intends to take the game to England during the first Test.
Elgar is adamant that despite the picturesque scene at The Home of Cricket and the history associated with the ground, he will remain focused on trying to lead the Proteas to victory.
‘With the captaincy, you have to look at it like any other game of cricket. You can’t let the occasion get the better of you. You have to think about the team first and the venue later,’ Elgar said.
The opening batsman says the chance to lead his country is the proudest moment of his career, while also noting that the Lord’s environment makes one want to raise one’s game.
‘It’s the proudest day so far in my career. Everything about Lord’s seems to make you want to do better. You hear all the stories about the game when you are growing up and what you see on the TV, those are your first-hand experiences, it always looks so nice.
‘Once you reach the big arena, all those memories come flooding back and you have the first-hand opportunity to play here and try to do well here. It is an enhanced feeling when you get here, an emotion that gets you to try and do well,’ Elgar remarked.
Elgar wishes to bring a similar approach to captaincy as he does to his batting, which is typically described as ‘gutsy’ and ‘aggressive’.
‘Once I cross the line, you can see it in my batting, I’m a little bit tougher and nuggety. In that sense the captaincy vibe will be in those lines, at little bit more aggressive and being more of a fighter out there. Taking the play to the opposition,’ he said.
Elgar will look to lead from the front and continue his rich vein of form in England so far this year, which has seen him top both Somerset’s County Championship (averaging 47) and one-day run charts.
Day one begins at 12:00 SAST on Thursday.
