England’s new era in Test cricket under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum has taken the cricketing world by storm. They first whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 and then thrashed India by 7 wickets to win the rescheduled Test that was postponed last year due to Covid-19.
In all four matches, England displayed a staggering performance and pulled off incredible chases, including their highest when they chased 378 runs against India.
No wonder, England’s aggressive approach, termed as ‘Bazball’, has become a topic of discussion around the world lately.
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However, South Africa skipper Dean Elgar is fed up with discussing England’s ‘Bazball’ approach to Test cricket. His comments came on the eve of the first Test between South Africa and England at Lord’s.
“With all due respect I am really not going to entertain that (Bazball) anymore," Elgar told reporters at Lord’s on Tuesday (August 16).
“We have chatted about it long and hard. I just want to crack on with the cricket. I think the game deserves that respect and mud-slinging is now a thing of the past for me."
Elgar, who has led the Proteas to seven wins out of nine Tests as full-time captain so far, acknowledged that there could be times when the visitors are on the defensive but he believes they have the resources to fight back.
“I would like to think from a bowling point of view, our bowlers are big, tall, fast and strong buggers and we have ticked the boxes in regards to the spin department."
According to Elgar, England pulled off all the run chases in “pretty nice" conditions for batting.
However, he didn’t underestimate the scale of the tourists’ task.
“It might be hard work for us but this is what we are here to do," he said. “We are not here to play soft-natured cricket. We want it hard and really tough and hopefully the results go our way."
South Africa suffered an innings and 56-run defeat in the four-day practice match against England Lions ahead of the Test series, with the visiting bowlers conceding a massive 672 runs.
But Dean Elgar isn’t reading too much into the warm-up game.
“If they come out playing like that in an official Test match and it goes pear-shaped, that will not look very good for England," he said.
(With AFP inputs)
