Elgar less unhappy after Sydney performance

SA captain Dean Elgar said the hurt and embarrassment he felt about the series defeat in Australia had been ameliorated a little by his team’s battling performance to save a draw in the final Test on Sunday.

The tourists batted out the last day at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), denying Australia a series sweep and saving face after losing the first Test inside two days in Brisbane and the second by a humiliating innings and 182 runs in Melbourne.

“[I was] hurt, embarrassed [but] maybe a little bit less now after showing a hell of a lot of fight and some really positive signs in this game,” Elgar said at the SCG.

“We are an immensely proud nation. We play to win and when things don’t go your way, those kinds of [emotions] do flow through your veins.”

The opening batsman continued a poor run of personal form on Sunday when he was dismissed for 10 runs to leave him with an average of 9.33 over his six innings in the series, his best knock of 26 being curtailed when he was run out in Melbourne.

“It’s just a bit frustrating that I could never get going throughout the series and when I did get going I managed to run myself out,” he said.

“All around, it’s extremely frustrating. I’d actually been batting well up to every game.

“There have been times when I’ve batted worse and got the performance.”

Despite his and SA’s poor showing in Australia, Elgar said he wanted to continue as captain.

“I enjoy the pressure, it’s nice. I think if scoring runs was happening now, it would have been a lot easier to say yes,” he said.

“Obviously, you have to go into a different phase of yourself and ask those questions, which I have, and I still have the hunger and drive, no doubt.”

Australia captain Pat Cummins praised SA’s resilience.

“The wicket was still pretty good,” he said. “We knew we were up against it. It was about putting some balls in some good areas and hopefully, the luck turned.

“But that wasn’t the case. They batted beautifully.

“We had 150 overs to try to take 20 wickets on a pretty good batting surface.

“Really proud of all the efforts. I thought Nathan Lyon was outstanding.

“He bowled close to 60 overs for fewer rewards than he deserved.

“I think the most pleasing thing is similar to last year’s Ashes, everyone contributing.

“I’m really happy with how everyone is travelling. I think they can hold their heads up high.”

Player of the match Usman Khawaja was pleased with how his Sydney Test had played out with the bat.

“I’m just enjoying the good times at the moment,” he said.

“[The SCG] can be a grinding wicket, a slow wicket.

“Spin is always in the game so you need to have your options against spin.

“It’s not rocket science. If you bat well and you do it for a long time you’ll usually succeed out there.

“I would love to have a double ton next to my name, but at the end of the day it’s a great way to showcase cricket and what cricket stands for.

“You want to go out there and you want to make milestones and achieve certain goals, but at the end of the day it’s about winning and you’ve got to do what’s best.

“I think any children watching out there, or anyone watching how Australia play their sport, it’s always team first and I think that’s very important when you are playing a team game.”

Reuters