England, stuck in the mud with just one win in 17 Test matches, brought in Brendon McCullum as coach and named Ben Stokes as their new captain in May and the pair made an immediate impact. The Poms won all four red-ball games since the duo came to the fore, with a crushing 3-0 win over world Test champions New Zealand and a record 378 chase against India in the much-delayed Edgbaston Test. The English side's new swashbuckling approach in the format was termed "Bazball", which is derived from McCullum's nickname 'Baz'.
England look to continue the aggressive approach as they take on South Africa in a three-match Test series. But Dean Elgar feels 'Bazball' has no 'longevity' and England could have 'come away with egg on their faces' against the Kiwi side.
"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," said the South Africa captain in an interview with Wisden Cricket Monthly.
"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."
{{/usCountry}}"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."
{{/usCountry}}Aiden Markram said that South Africa won't play with the same approach despite getting a glimpse of 'Bazball' in their warm-up game against England Lions, who piled up 672 all out, thanks to tons from Harry Brook (140 off 170) and Ben Duckett (145 from 168). The pair slammed 37 fours and six sixes in response to South Africa's first innings total of 433.
"I don't see our team falling into a trap of playing the same way that they play. We've had chats about not falling into that trap, backing the way that we play, especially with bat in hand. We'll keep training our game plans and hopefully it works well," said the Proteas batter.
"There's lots of experience in our side. It's inexperience that can lead into that trap. We've had chats about it, we will play our own way and see how it unfolds after that."