Elgar looks ahead to Test series in Australia

Proteas captain Dean Elgar knows what it takes to win a Test series in Australia but the opening batter is not reading too much into past successes.

The 35-year-old, who was on the winning side of two touring teams to Australia in the past decade, said it was great to look back on those achievements, but warned against getting too caught up in the hype.

Elgar will lead his side into three tough encounters, starting at The Gabba in Brisbane on December 17, before they head to the MCG in Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test and then on to the final clash at the Sydney Cricket Ground starting on January 4.

“We’ve had a pretty good record of late [in Australia], I have experienced two tours here and they have ended quite well for us.

“In saying that, it is in the past, the learning from that is that we can compete and win here, which is a huge positive for us within our group.

“We do have quite a few guys here who have not played a series [in Australia] yet, it is a positive we can learn from and focus on.

“Australia is a good place to play Test cricket, I feel it is very balanced between bat and ball. Conditions are something we will weigh up when we get to the venues, but in general, they are good conditions for playing Test cricket,” the left-hander said in his arrival presser on Monday.

Asked if there would be any animosity from the infamous 2017/2018 series in SA when several widely televised incidents took place over the four-match series, culminating in the Sandpapergate scandal, after the Australians were caught ball-tampering, Elgar said there were no lingering ill feelings towards their opponents.

“It was a very tough time for all of us, even though we weren’t the guys who got the brunt of everything, but we were part of that, they were sad events, but I don’t hold any animosity towards the players who were involved or Cricket Australia.

“That period has long lapsed. We move forward as a group. The history between SA and Australia is so rich, the competitive nature is pretty similar, we both want to go out and win, and play a brand of cricket that our countries are proud of.

“It was extremely juicy back then, even building up to that game in Cape Town, it was interesting times and hopefully that has been put to bed now,” Elgar said.

On why it would be different, the dogged batsman said: “Hopefully, there are no antics happening on the field that someone gets busted for, it was sad to see those events unfold.

“I am pretty sure on the field there is always a bit of spice. We love playing against Australia, we have a deep respect for Australian cricket, so, hopefully, we can put on a good spectacle,” he said.

While they are looking forward to the challenge of playing cricket at what he believes are the big three Test-playing venues in Australia, Elgar said ensuring that they implement their disciplines correctly will allow the personal and team achievements to take care of themselves.