England’s ‘Bazball’ approach has got in South Africa’s heads, claims Ben Stokes

On the eve of the first Test against South Africa Ben Stokes has claimed that England’s ultra-positive approach to the format – commonly known as “Bazball” – has got into the heads of their opponents, even if the Proteas captain, Dean Elgar, continues to insist it is as likely to lead to embarrassment as glory.

Elgar had previously claimed to have “absolutely no interest in the style that they’ve played”, but in the home dressing room his words do not seem to have been taken at face value. “I guess the more you talk about something the more it is in your head,” Stokes said.

“The opposition seem to be doing a lot of talking about it. We just concentrate on what we do. At the end of the day, it’s bat against ball, whoever plays best over a Test match is more than likely to win. We don’t dive into it too much, but I’m happy for Dean and the South African team to keep saying they’re not interested but then also keep talking about it.”

South Africa’s preparations for the series culminated in an emphatic defeat against an England Lions XI that enthusiastically adopted the first-team approach, a match that delighted one side and has been dismissed by the other.

“I read absolutely nothing into that warmup game,” Elgar said on Tuesday. “It was a good exercise for us, and if they come out playing like that in an official Test match and it goes pear-shaped, that’s not going to look very good for England.”

We will soon find out what this England side might do to South Africa, but one thing they are unlikely to do is surprise them. “It’s probably something a team has never had to plan for before, the way we are approaching our cricket at the moment, because it’s so new and so fresh to the Test format,” Stokes said.

“But what I will