“I Don’t See That There’s Longevity”: Dean Elgar On England’s ‘Bazball’

Dean Elgar feels that committing to the ‘Bazball’ philosophy could leave England looking foolish in the long run.

South Africa Test captain Dean Elgar has played down England’s new batting approach in the longest format under head coach Brendon McCullum. Elgar’s comments came ahead of the three-match Test series between England and South Africa, starting from Wednesday, August 17. Elgar feels that committing to the ‘Bazball’ philosophy could leave England looking foolish in the long run. Despite terming ‘Bazball’ interesting, the Proteas Test skipper was not at all worried by the prospect of England batters taking the attack to their bowlers.

“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. There was often parity between England and New Zealand 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,” Elgar told Wisden Cricket Monthly, as per Dailymail.co.uk.

Since McCullum took charge as head coach, and Ben Stokes replaced Joe Root as Test captain, England have managed to turn around their fortuned quickly.

After being thrashed by Australia in the Ashes, England clean swept New Zealand 3-0 on home turf, before also beating India in the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston in Birmingham.

South Africa, on the other hand, have a few areas to target, especially after their heavy defeat to the England Lions in a practice match earlier this week.

The visitors will also miss pacer Duanne Oliver, who has been ruled out of the series due to a Grade 2 tear in his right hip-flexor muscle.