By: Reuters |
August 15, 2022 2:33:57 pm
Ben Stokes will use new attacking approach in test against south Africa (FILE)
England are expected to reprise their new attacking approach instilled by captain Ben Stokes but will come up against a powerful South Africa seam attack in the three-test series starting on Wednesday.
Stokes’s approach has ruffled the feathers of test purists, but “Bazball” brought dramatic victories and great entertainment as England beat New Zealand and India in June and July, chasing down imposing victory targets in swashbuckling style. Stokes has said how he wants to change the way test cricket is played, calling for his team to score quick runs and always looking for wickets in an aggressive approach.
There is no reason to expect anything different at Lord’s on Wednesday as England bid for a fifth successive test win, against a team whose strength is their pace bowling attack.”I’d like to see them do it against our seamers,” said South Africa captain Dean Elgar in a provocative call to arms in the build-up to the series.
South Africa have, however, lost Duanne Olivier to a hip injury and are sweating on the fitness of lead bowler Kagiso Rabada, who has been struggling with an ankle injury. Elgar said last week that getting the 27-year-old seamer fit was his team’s top priority.
What a day.
South Africa close on 59/3, trailing the Lions by 180 🏴 🇿🇦
Scorecard ➡️ https://t.co/F4sULACTIw pic.twitter.com/0iySKaCmL2
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 11, 2022
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
They also suffered defeat by an innings and 56 runs against the hosts’ second string, the England Lions, in the four-day warm-up match at Canterbury last week. The Lions attacked the South Africans with bat and ball in a vivid illustration of what they can expect at Lord’s and in the following two tests at Old Trafford and The Oval.
South Africa go into series on the back of home successes over India and Bangladesh, the latter achieved with a weakened side after giving key players time off to compete in the Indian Premier League.
Top Sports News Now
Subscriber Only StoriesView All
PremiumExplainSpeaking | India at 75: 11 charts to understand how far India has …
PremiumWhy a majority of Muslims opposed Jinnah’s idea of Partition and stayed o…
PremiumDelhi Confidential: Who will hoist the Tricolour at the AICC headquarters…
PremiumJustice Uday Umesh Lalit: ‘If (our) action is not up to the mark, s…Subscribe Now to get 62% OFF
Since Elgar became a captain in March, 2021, South Africa have won seven of nine matches and top the World Test Championship table, on course for a meeting with Australia in next year’s final.
Explained by The Indian Express
Do not just read the news. Understand it. Read our daily explainers
Read now
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
First published on: 15-08-2022 at 02:33:57 pm
