The trend right now seems to be joining county sides for fun. A lot of international stars have joined – or are set to join – the premier competition of first-class cricket and Dean Elgar becomes the recent addition to it.

Like Morne Morkel, he is set for a stint at Surrey this season and will once again line up with his former South African team-mate. Unlike Morkel, however, he won’t be signing a Kolpak deal and will represent Surrey for six weeks as a replacement for Mitchell Marsh.

The deal will not have an effect on Elgar’s international commitment as he will be available for selection for South Africa’s tour to Sri Lanka in July-August.

This will be the second time that the South African will ply his trade in the county as he enjoyed a short stint at Surrey back in 2015.

The opening left-handed batsman had a decent time in England last year when South Africa toured the country. When almost every other batsmen were struggling, he scored 291 runs from four matches at an average of 36.37. He also scored a century against England and was one of the few positives for the Proteas, who lost the series 3-1 in the end.