Former Test captain for South Africa, Dean Elgar, exposed the brutal truth of political and administrative agendas destroying the culture and atmosphere within the South African team. Not only that, but Elgar claimed that this was the reason behind his inexplicable dismissal from the captaincy in the purest form of the game.
Elgar expressed his feelings about being “stabbed in the back” by Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) management and the team’s current head coach, Shukri Conrad, as he detailed the difficulties he faced in rebuilding the team.
Career cut short
Notably, the 36-year-old bid farewell to his career as an international cricketer back in January and went on to sign a three-year, lucrative contract with the English county Essex. In addition, looking back on his Test career, he charged that Conrad had shortened it because he felt more at ease discussing and making plans with Temba Bavuma, the South Africa captain at the time.
‘Part-time politician’
“I became a part-time cricketer and full-time politician, something that I never want to go through again. I am a sportsman, not a politician or a cricket administrator, but I was thrown into a cauldron in which I had to be all three. If I had known that before, I would never have accepted the captaincy,” Elgar said in an interview with Rapport Newspaper.
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‘My hard work went unrecognised’
“It felt as though they did not recognise all my hard work over the previous year-and-a-half, that they didn’t realise how much we had improved as a team. From being sixth or seventh in the world we became a team with the potential to play in the World Test championship final,” the 36-year-old continued.
“From being sixth or seventh in the world we became a team with the potential to play in the World Test championship final,” he added.
Elgar also accused the current South African coach Shukri Conrad of cutting his Test career short.
“Shukri Conrad is the reason why my Test career was cut short,” said Elgar.
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