{"id":59823,"date":"2024-01-19T16:40:33","date_gmt":"2024-01-19T16:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand"},"modified":"2024-01-19T17:14:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-19T17:14:01","slug":"brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand","title":{"rendered":"Brand takes tips from Elgar to help understrength Proteas in New Zealand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Dean Elgar may no longer be in the Proteas change room but his spirit will live on through Neil Brand, who headed to Christchurch \u2014 via Sydney \u2014 on Friday as captain of the much-maligned Proteas squad for a two match Test series against New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Brand is one of eight players in the squad who have yet to play a Test.<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of the team\u2019s departure, Brand said he would take plenty of lessons learnt from playing alongside Elgar at his provincial team, the Northerns Titans, into his stint as Proteas captain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve talked to Dean a lot, he has been massive for that whole (Titans) dressing room, he\u2019s so professional. When I arrive at SuperSport Park in the morning, he\u2019s already there and he lives an hour away. That is just a testament to his character.<\/p>\n

Hopefully that has rubbed off on me,\u201d said Brand.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old left-hand opener is certainly cut from the same cloth.<\/p>\n

Taller than the older Elgar who retired from international cricket at the end of the India series, Brand does share Elgar\u2019s toughness, willingness to fight and putting a high price on his wicket.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo score runs in tough situations, I\u2019ve seen him do it and it makes you want to do it as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying at the Titans makes you tough, especially opening the batting. That is something I have learnt batting with Dean \u2014 learning to score runs in tough situations.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a trait he will demand from all the players in a squad whose chances of winning in New Zealand have largely been dismissed and whose selection has been described as signalling the death of Test cricket.<\/p>\n

The tour coincides with the SA20 tournament, which Cricket SA has prioritised, with all the nationally contracted players instructed to avail themselves for the league and others who aren\u2019t regular members of the Proteas, but have been contracted by the competition, duty-bound to appear in it, even if they are seated on the bench the majority of the time.<\/p>\n

I want to stay true to myself, I know this group of players, I don\u2019t want to change and become this different person. I might lose the respect of the dressing room.
\nNeil Brand
\n\u201cThis tour has been spoken about a lot in the media, we are going there to compete and to hopefully win the series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know people have written us off, but we are wearing the Proteas badge and we\u2019re desperate to come back with something,\u201d said Brand.<\/p>\n

All the players have spoken of the value gained from the \u2018A\u2019 series they played in against West Indies last November, which allowed team spirit to be created.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was the only Titans player in that team, I didn\u2019t know anyone \u2014 at least not on a personal level. After those three games, the team was so tight, the team cohesion was awesome, seeing everyone today was amazing, and I\u2019m thankful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the squad lacks in Test caps, they make up for with plenty of first class experience, with Brand mentioning it had been worked out that on average there were 96 matches per player in the squad.<\/p>\n

Those numbers would have been boosted by the likes of David Bedingham, Dane Paterson and Duanne Olivier who have all played on the English county circuit, but even off-spinner, Dane Piedt, has 119 first class matches under his belt, while Brand has played 51.<\/p>\n

He admitted the prospect of not only leading the team but also making his Test debut occasionally made him apprehensive.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the first few weeks of the season, you just want to do well for the Titans and hopefully get into contention for a place in the Test side.<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially (when told of the captaincy), you wonder \u2018wow, is this actually happening?\u2019 Then it\u2019s about taking it day by day.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the captaincy itself, Brand said he\u2019d spoken to Elgar and Albie Morkel about leadership, taken tips from observing teammates at SuperSport Park like Heinrich Klaasen, Grant Thomson and Sibonelo Makhanya, but didn\u2019t want to take on board too much, lest it damaged his personal outlook.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to speak to too many people and then change the way I am captaining. I want to stay true to myself, I know this group of players, I don\u2019t want to change and become this different person. I might lose the respect of the dressing room.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Proteas face New Zealand in the first Test in Mt Manganui from February 5.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Dean Elgar may no longer be in the Proteas change room but his spirit will live on through Neil Brand, who headed to Christchurch \u2014 via Sydney \u2014 on Friday as captain of the much-maligned Proteas squad for a two match Test series against New Zealand. Brand is one of eight players […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":59822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-59823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nBrand takes tips from Elgar to help understrength Proteas in New Zealand - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dean Elgar may no longer be in the Proteas change room but his spirit will live on through Neil Brand, who headed to Chr ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Brand takes tips from Elgar to help understrength Proteas in New Zealand\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dean Elgar may no longer be in the Proteas change room but his spirit will live on through Neil Brand, who headed to Chr ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-19T16:40:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-19T17:14:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/01\/sm_1705671749.990885.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Brand takes tips from Elgar to help understrength Proteas in New Zealand\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-19T16:40:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-19T17:14:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand\"},\"wordCount\":786,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2024\/01\/sm_1705671749.990885.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/brand-takes-tips-from-elgar-to-help-understrength-proteas-in-new-zealand\",\"name\":\"Brand takes tips from Elgar to help understrength Proteas in New Zealand - 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