Dean Elgar joins Desmond Haynes in elite club of two
Dean Elgar recorded the 54th instance of a batsman carrying his bat through a Test innings on Friday 23 March, when he ended the South Africa first inningsin the Cape Town Test against Australia****unbeaten on 141.
It was the third time in his 48-Test career that Elgar has achieved the feat, placing him in an elite company of only two. Desmond Haynes, the former Windies opening batsman, is the only other man to do it in the 2300-game history of the format.
The celebration after getting to his latest century was a bit emotional, and Elgar explained why after the second day's play: "Going back to the previous series against India, it was a kind of up-and-down series for me personally and I didn’t think I’d accomplish what I wanted to as a player for the side. So it was important for me to try and do it in the first two Tests against Australia. So slowly but surely I started finding myself getting there with regards to preparation and becoming the player that I know that I am. So yeah, that’s why ultimately that emotion was there."
Batsmen to have carried their bat more than once
| Instances | Batsman | Details |
| 3 | Desmond Haynes (WI) | 88* v Pak in Karachi (1986), 75* v Eng at The Oval (1991) & 143* v Pak in Port of Spain (1993) |
| 3 | Dean Elgar (SA) | 118* v Eng in Durban (2015), 86* v Ind in Johannesburg (2018) & 141* v Aus in Cape Town (2018) |
| 2 | Bill Woodfull (Aus) | 30* v Eng in Brisbane (1928) & 73* v Eng in Adelaide (1933) |
| 2 | Len Hutton (Eng) | 202* v WI at The Oval (1950) & 156* v Aus in Adelaide (1951) |
| 2 | Bill Lawry (Aus) | 49* v Ind in New Delhi (1969) & 60* v Eng in Sydney (1971) |
| 2 | Glenn Turner (NZ) | 43* v Eng at Lord's (1969) & 223* v WI in Kingston (1972) |
Of all the players to have achieved the remarkable feat of endurance in Test history more than once, Elgar is the first to do it twice in the same calendar year. He remained not out after opening the innings as recently as in the final Test of the series against India earlier this year, when he scored 86* in the fourth innings of the match in Johannesburg. Chasing 241, South Africa were bowled out for 177 to give India a 63-run win, though South Africa still won the series 2-1.
When he scored 118* during the Test match against England in Durban back in December 2015, Elgar became the sixth South African to achieve the feat. He has since gone on to become the only one to do it twice, and now thrice.
South African batsmen to carry their bat
| Batsman | Details |
| Bernard Tancred | 26* v England in Cape Town (1889) |
| Billy Zulch | 43* v England in Cape Town (1910) |
| Trevor Goddard | 56* v Australia in Cape Town (1957) |
| Jackie McGlew | 127* v New Zealand in Durban (1961) |
| Gary Kirsten | 100* v Pakistan in Faisalabad (1997) |
| Dean Elgar | 118* v England in Durban (2015) |
Overall, batsmen from Australia have achieved it the most often – 13 times – followed by players from England, South Africa and Windies.
Carrying the bat – country-wise record
| Instances | Team | Batsmen |
| 13 | Australia | Jack Barrett, Warwick Armstrong, Warren Bardsley, Bill Woodfull (2), Bill Brown, Bill Lawry (2), Ian Redpath, David Boon, Mark Taylor, Simon Katich, David Warner |
| 9 | England | Bobby Abel, Pelham Warner, Len Hutton (2), Geoffrey Boycott, Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart, Mike Atherton, Alastair Cook |
| 8 | South Africa | Bernard Tancred, Billy Zulch, Trevor Goddard, Jackie McGlew, Gary Kirsten, Dean Elgar (3) |
| 7 | Windies | Frank Worrell, Conrad Hunte, Desmond Haynes (3), Chris Gayle, Kraigg Brathwaite |
| 4 | Pakistan | Nazar Mohammad, Mudassar Nazar, Saeed Anwar, Imran Farhat |
| 4 | India | Sunil Gavaskar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Cheteshwar Pujara |
| 3 | Sri Lanka | Sidath Wettimuny, Marvan Atapattu, Russel Arnold |
| 3 | Zimbabwe | Mark Dekker, Grant Flower, Tino Mawoyo |
| 2 | New Zealand | Glenn Turner (2) |
| 1 | Bangladesh | Javed Omar |
Interestingly, while Elgar must be happy about his record, he can’t feel too optimistic, as South Africa had lost both the earlier Tests when he carried his bat.
118* - England beat South Africa by 241 runs in Durban
86* - India beat South Africa by 63 runs in Johannesburg