Dean Elgar, born in Welkom, Orange Free State, South Africa, signed for Essex Cricket ahead of the 2024 season following his retirement from international cricket.
Widely regarded as one of the world’s best openers, Elgar enjoyed a twelve-year international career, during which he captained South Africa in 13 of the 86 Tests he played in – scoring over 5,000 runs and achieving 14 centuries.
In Dean’s first 25 first-class appearances for Essex, the left-handed batter scored 1869 runs at an impressive average of 49.18 with his high score of 182 coming against Durham in September 2025.
From reaching 1,000 County Championship runs in 2024 to being named Batter of the Year at the Club’s annual player awards that season, Dean was awarded his County Cap in June 2025. Elgar was the 170th Essex player to receive this honour.
