Ben Stokes insists England will adopt front-foot approach in all circumstances

Ben Stokes has promised England will not change their new bold and aggressive approach to Test cricket no matter the challenge in front of them.

After four thrilling victories against New Zealand and India earlier this summer, South Africa are the next opponent trying to burst the hosts’ bubble.

Since red-ball captain Stokes and new head coach Brendon McCullum took over, England have produced exhilarating cricket where records have tumbled with 378 chased down at Edgbaston last month.

It has resulted in the playful term ‘Bazball’ being coined but outsiders like Steve Smith and Dean Elgar have cast doubt over the longevity of a philosophy which has transformed the way the longest format is viewed again in the UK.

Lord’s is the venue for Wednesday’s opening Test of a three-match series and Stokes is adamant even if his team bat first, having chased for their victories in 2022, it will not make a difference.

“No matter what conditions we have, we’ve got our way of playing and we’re going to stick to that. We’ll adapt to situations, but we’ll always go out with the same mindset that you’ve seen over the last four games,” he said.

“We’ve said if we have to chase down 400 in 60 overs on day five, we’ll try and do it, but it’s the same mindset with the ball. If we’ve got 40 overs to bowl a team out on day five, we’ll be doing everything that we can to do that and not just hope it happens.

“One of my desires as captain, away from the cricket and results, was how can we capture the imagination of the English followers again?

“I still firmly believe that if we had walked away on the wrong side of those games and not come away with a win, especially the Trent Bridge game if we hadn’t chased those (299) runs down, the people there