Elgar's burden on and off the field

On the field, Dean Elgar is in control. Off the field, less so. Staying out of the news for reasons other than his batting and leadership is a challenge that could get away from him if he doesn't treat it with more care.

On Monday night in Durban, after Elgar had guided his team to a thumping victory at Kingsmead, he slipped in the shower and gashed his forehead seriously enough to require stitches. During the same press conference, in Gqeberha on Thursday, where he explained the reason for the wound above his right eye, he gave the Bangladeshis the sound advice to, in short, stop whingeing and play better cricket.

Accidents will happen and many would agree with his sentiments on his opponents' rampant emotional response to being thrashed. In an age when too many cricketers sound the same, because they have been fed the same drivel in lieu of proper answers to the same questions the same reporters keep asking, Elgar is a gem. He says what he thinks, and he says it clearly and strongly. What's not to like whether you're a reader or a reporter?

But Elgar also ventured into dangerous territory on Thursday. "It's a man's environment when it comes to playing at this level, and I intend to play the game hard," he said. If all that was wrong with that statement was that it was factually incorrect - South Africa will play a women's Test in England in June - the alarm raised wouldn't have sounded too loudly.

It's not that simple. How could Elgar's comment not be understood as anything except an expression of toxic masculinity, the poison that inadequate, insecure people dispense to try to create an impression of power and authority? It is so pervasive in overtly aggressive areas like sport that it usually goes unrecognised for what it is and has become part of what is wrongly considered normal. Thus sport becomes a haven for people of this sad but dangerous ilk.

Elgar doesn't show any evidence of inadequacy or insecurity. Quite the contrary. But what he said could be construed as using gender to condone bad behaviour on the field. Maybe he didn't mean to do that, but intention matters little when bad people latch onto ammunition to use in other spaces. These cynical entities would likely not dare mention that, mere days ago, Elgar held up South Africa's women's team as an example of how a national side should play.

The complication is that the unvarnished honesty Elgar has brought to the job of captaining South Africa can also be seen in his batting, which is designed for a master artisan rather than an artist. That has made him South Africa's leading run-scorer among current players, their most successful batter in 2021/22, and his 70 - his third consecutive half-century - on the first day of the second Test against Bangladesh at St George's Park on Friday (April 8) means no-one has made more runs at the country's original international rugby and cricket ground. Worldwide, only Usman Khawaja has scored more heavily in Tests this year.

"He's been extremely consistent, and that with a young team to lead," Keegan Petersen told a press conference. "We try to follow as best we can. He is a hard leader and he expects us to be at our best all the time for the team."

All good, but how might Elgar channel those worthy qualities better when he is talking rather than batting? Nobody wants him to dwindle to the routine blandishment that has made listening to other players and captains a chore to be avoided if possible and, if not, endured. But Elgar needs to remember that he is not addressing only those who will give him the benefit of the doubt about what he says.

Certainly, Elgar's message to his players after a day that promised much but delivered too many unfinished efforts would be good to hear. South Africa were 107/1 at lunch and 199/3 at tea. Their stumps score of 278/5 means they didn't make the most of their solid beginnings.

Petersen and Temba Bavuma also passed 50, and Ryan Rickelton fell eight runs short. For the first time since 2010, all of South Africa's first four pairs shared half-century stands. Four foreigners have scored centuries in South Africa without reply by the home side in their backyard. The last time someone did was in January 2021, with an innings of 127 against Sri Lanka at the Wanderers. Who made that ton? Dean Elgar.

Where had all South Africa's centuries gone? "I don't know," Petersen said. "There's been plenty of chances; quite a few 50s. But no-one's kicked on, myself included. That hundred just keeps eluding me. Or us. It's not for lack of trying, but we're just not getting there."

Did that matter, considering South Africa have won four of the five home Tests they have played since Elgar made that century? "Hundreds would put us in better positions," Petersen said. "Sometimes the 50s-and-out puts the game back into the balance. A hundred would take us ahead."

On the field, that is. Off the field, it takes more than that.