"I don’t see our team falling into a trap of playing the same way" - Aiden Markram optimistic of Proteas not copying England's 'Bazball' style in Test series
South African batter Aiden Markram has stated that his team would stick to their own gameplans in the upcoming three-Test series against England, beginning on August 17. The right-handed batter remains confident that the Proteas will not fall into the trap of 'Bazball' cricket.
The term 'Bazball' has come to epitomize the aggressive brand of cricket, especially from the batsmen, that England have played since Brendon McCullum took over as the coach of the team.
Under his guidance, and the leadership of their new captain Ben Stokes, the English Test team have registered four victories in four Tests in their present home season thus far.
The South Africans got a taste of the England senior team's aggressive gameplay in the four-day tour match against the England Lions in Canterbury. The tourists suffered an innings and 56-run defeat as the England Lions piled up 672, scoring at 5.74 runs per over in reply to the Proteas' first-innings total of 433.
Aiden Markram, who had relative success in the warm-up game, said South Africa's plans have worked well for them; hence, they will stick to it. The 27-year-old hopes that they can execute their tactics better instead of trying to play like their opponents.
The Centurion-born batter said, as quoted by News24:
"We've got our own brand of cricket that we play that we've been playing for a couple of years now. We've got to back that. Their brand of cricket is what they back and we've got a different plan.
"We need to back what we've been doing for a few years and hope we can match them. I don’t see our team falling into a trap of playing the same way that they play."
The top-order batter shone in the white-ball leg of the tour, playing an integral role in South Africa's T20 series victory. He scored 10 off 45 deliveries in the first innings of the four-day fixture and remained unbeaten on 88 in the second innings.
However, the challenge in the the upcoming Test series would be at another level. The English team seems to have rebounded brilliantly after a torrid time in 2021 and the first few months of 2022.
They whitewashed the World Test Championship winners New Zealand at home 3-0 before beating the Indian side in a one-off Test - to finish off last year's incomplete 5-match series.
What made these triumphs astonishing was the very aggressive approach taken by the English batsmen in all the four contests.
Furthermore, the Ben Stokes-led team managed to chase targets of over 250 in all the four contests. In fact, in the game against India, they registered their highest-ever successful fourth-innings chase by knocking down a target of 378.
"I'm not sure whether I'm going to open or not" - Aiden Markram ahead of the first Test
Aiden Markram admitted that there remains uncertainty around his spot for the first Test at Lord's, but hopes the preparation is enough to play in the middle order.
"We've done as much preparation as we can on the tour, but I'm not sure whether I'm going to open or not. If I don't, at least the preparation will give one the best opportunity to get ready. I'll see if I get to play in the middle order and if so, I hope the preparation will be good enough."
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While the South African team has been in reasonably good form this year, having beaten India and pulverised Bangladesh at home, Markram has been struggling.
His form in the series against India was poor and many believed that he would be dropped from the Test side. However, the right-hander made himself unavailable for the series against Bangladesh as he prioritisized his IPL commitments over the Test series.
Now, the man once seen as the future of South African batting gets another opportunity. A bad series in England could send him back to the anonymity of domestic circuit. It will be a do-or-die situation for Aiden Markram in England.