Image Credit- CSA
As South Africa were ready for Dean Elgar’s last Test,
his replacement was being called up to bat first and lead the side. in the true
sense.
“It was the morning of the first day of the Test
in Cape Town that Shuks (Shukri Conrad, Test coach) called me and said, ‘You
are in the team and you are also going to be captain’,” Neil Brand said in
Johannesburg ahead of the squad’s departure to New Zealand. “Obviously
going over to New Zealand, making your debut and captaining is quite
interesting and probably quite rare. I am obviously delighted.”
Due to Elgar’s retirement following the Newlands Test
and the fact that most of South Africa’s first-choice players are occupied with
SA20 commitments, Brand finds himself in a peculiar situation. Elgar, who has
no contract with a T20 squad, might have led the team he captained 18 times in
New Zealand between 2017 and 2024 and brought much-needed experience to their
ranks if he had not resigned.
Rather, Brand, his opening partner at Titans in the
domestic league, will captain a team in New Zealand that has eight players
without a cap and will also have to face the new ball.
“Initially you are like – ‘Wow, is this actually
happening,’ and then you realise it’s going to become a thing,” Brand
said, when asked to describe how he felt. “This tour has been spoken about
a lot in the media. People have written us off but we are still wearing the
Proteas badge. We are desperate to come back with something.”
Inexperience aside, South Africa’s touring party will
also be facing New Zealand who have not lost a home Test series since March
2017.
“There’s always pressure, but there’s also a lot
of pride that comes with wearing this shirt. We don’t want to let our country
down. We want to perform.”
He pointed to the experience at the level in his group
at domestic level as an example. “This team has 96 games per player as an
average. That’s a lot of first-class cricket in the group,” he said.
“There’s a lot of experience in terms of domestic cricket and that has to
count for something. There’s not a lot of Test matches but you’ve still got to
see it as a positive. I don’t think anyone has any baggage.”