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The former South Africa National Cricket Team captain Dean Elgar has decided to hang up his cricket kit at the end of the season. He retired from international cricket back in 2024 and continued to play domestic cricket and county cricket. Now, at the end of the 2026 County Championship, he will retire from the game.
Elgar was a fantastic Test opener for the Proteas. He played some valuable knocks throughout his 12-year career for South Africa. The opener scored 5347 runs at 37.92 in 86 Tests, including 14 hundreds and a career best of 199 against Bangladesh in 2017. He was also involved in the DRS controversy in 2022 against India and Virat Kohli.
"It's the right time for me now": Dean Elgar announces retirement
While speaking on his retirement, he said it is the best time for him to call an end to his career. He is already 39, and he feels that he now has to spend time with his family at home and be there for his children as well. Dean Elgar reveals that the journey has been amazing.
"I feel it's the right time for me now," Elgar said (as quoted by Cricinfo). "I'm not getting any younger, 39 years old, and I've got a lot of things going on back home with regards to a young but growing-up-very-quickly family. It's the right time for me now to be present at home and be there for my partner and my kids.
"It's been a great journey so far. It's not done yet, but at the end of the season, I will be retiring."
"I was fortunate enough to represent my country": Dean Elgar on playing for South Africa
Dean Elgar reveals that he was fortunate to represent the Proteas in the Test and ODI format and also feels proud to have led the side in the traditional format. He also goes back to his past and recalls all the memories of him becoming a cricketer and also points out his greatest achievement of winning a Test against England at Lord’s in 2022.
"I was fortunate enough to represent my country for twelve years and then the responsibility of captaining [South Africa] - that's one of the proudest moments of my career," Dean Elgar said. "If you look back at the journey of where I have come from, I don't think many people would have given me a lot of hope of having a career [in cricket], let alone one that spans over two decades."
"There's been a lot of proud moments during my time," he said. "Obviously, beating England at Lord's as captain is one of them. That stands out quite profoundly, purely the way we played cricket and the style and brand in which we played it. The transitioning phase, we started as seventh in the World Rankings when I took over and when I ended, we were second."
Dean Elgar was brilliant for Essex
The former South Africa batter signed a contract with Essex in 2024, taking on the senior opening role after Sir Alastair Cook’s retirement, and in his debut season he was impressive, scoring more than 1,000 runs in the County Championship and was named ‘Batter of the Year’ at the Club’s annual player awards ceremony that season.
Chris Silverwood, Essex's director of cricket, said: "Dean's career is defined by longevity, resilience and deep commitment to cricket."
"With a career spanning more than two decades, his reputation as a senior, experienced opening batter has made him an extremely important figure during his time at Essex, particularly in helping develop the Club's younger players."
