London: South Africa skipper Dean Elgar is not impressed by England’s new aggressive and brave style of cricket — also called ‘Bazball’ after their new Test coach Brendon ‘Baz’ McCullum — saying that while it may have given them instant results, rival teams will find a solution soon.
The England Test team under new coach McCullum and skipper Ben Stokes defeated New Zealand at home 3-0 and then thrashed India in the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston to make it four straight wins playing their aggressive style of cricket.
South Africa will be taking on England in the three-Test series beginning August 17, with the host looking to continue with their good work at Lord’s.
“The new England style is quite interesting. But I don’t see that there’s longevity in brave cricket because I see things evening out over time in Test cricket,” Elgar was quoted as saying by Wisden Cricket Monthly.
Even former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting recently expressed his reservations with England being able to continue its attacking style in the high-intensity Ashes series.
“So far it has been unbelievable, and it has actually almost reinvigorated Test match cricket again, hasn’t it? It’s not just coaching, but to be able to change the attitude of some of the English players to not be scared about getting out and to be fully committed to thinking about scoring runs and when you get the ball in your hand to be as aggressive as you can and set nice and aggressive fields,” Ponting had said in an episode of The ICC Review.
“The interesting thing is going to be Australia over there (in England) in the middle of next year for an Ashes series. When the real pressure of Ashes series comes around, it’ll be interesting to see if this England team is willing to play the same way,” he had said.
Elgar too said something similar ahead of the gruelling three-Test series, opining that had the Black Caps taken their chances in the three-Test series recently, England would have been licking their wounds.
“There was often parity between England and New Zealand (during the Test series) and had New Zealand taken their opportunities, and their catches, then things could have been very different. England would have come away with egg on their faces,” said Elgar.
–IANS
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