Sam Billings sends warning to South Africa skipper Dean Elgar
Sam Billings warns South Africa skipper Dean Elgar that it would be ‘pretty stupid’ to disregard England’s ‘Bazball’ revolution ahead of their Test series
- Sam Billings has warned South African captain no to be stupid about their style
- Elgar was critical of England’s ‘Bazball’ style ahead the test on Wednesday
- Billings says the Lions recent performances should be a wake up call to others
Sam Billings has warned South Africa it would be ‘pretty stupid’ to disregard England’s Bazball style ahead of the LV= Insurance Test series starting on Wednesday.
All the talk emanating from the tourists’ camp during a chastening defeat to England Lions in Canterbury was of focusing on their own game and not worrying about opponents at Lord’s who have ripped up Test cricket’s playbook.
South Africa captain Dean Elgar even suggested that the thrill-seeking style England have adopted would potentially leave them ‘with egg on their faces’.
But Lions captain Billings countered: ‘We’ve beaten an international team over four days by an innings in a manner of scoring 5.74 an over. You’d be pretty stupid to ignore that, if I’m honest. If that’s not a wake up call…. because we’re not even the best XI.
Sam Billings hasn’t taken too kindly to criticisms over England’s style from South Africa
‘So, it’s up to them, really, but I think that’s laid out a pretty strong statement in the way we want the cricket to be played, but also being able to execute it and having the players to do that was really impressive.
‘This is a very similar ground to Lord’s with the slope and things like that. There’s a couple of guys who Ollie Robinson had on toast this week. He bowled exceptionally well. It’s a similar kind of ground and a similar kind of feel. So the fact we got 20 wickets on a pretty flat pitch that had six heavy rollers on….. What did we get? 672? It’s impossible not to take confidence, certainly as a group, but some of the guys are in the Test squad as well and they’ll take a lot of confidence into next week.’
Indeed, one of the sub-plots of a second-string performance that encapsulated the attack-minded principles of the senior England side seamlessly was the re-emergence of one of the first Test squad members in Sussex’s Robinson, whose seam-bowling talent was fanfared 12 months ago following 28 wickets in his first five international appearances.
Dan Elgar said that England’s ‘Bazball’ style could have embarrassing circumstances for team
Conspicuous by his absence at the highest level since January due to a catalogue of fitness issues, the 28-year-old sweated through 25 overs in South Africa’s first effort of 433, for a couple of rewards, and with all eyes on how his stamina would hold up second time around, he answered with sustained menace and figures of 11-1-29-3.
‘I’m a big fan of Ollie in terms of his character on the field as well – how he always provides an intensity even if physically it doesn’t come across that way,’ said Billings.
‘The way he approaches the game is infectious. And he backed up his performance in the first innings: he actually got better and from a pace point of view I was further back than I was first dig, when you’d think the heavy rollers would kind of deaden the pitch up.
Bilings described Ollie Billings as having opponents ‘on toasts’ after recent performances
‘Yeah, it was proper Test match bowling on the third night and the fourth morning. I think he’s gone from strength to strength from a physical point of view.
‘But from a performance point of view, the bloke’s class. I genuinely felt in the game every single ball, especially to their left handers down the slope, the way he uses the crease.’
Robinson reports for full England duty today (Sunday) along with Craig Overton, whose six-wicket match was cut short by back stiffness midway through the fourth morning session. His withdrawal from the last rites of the innings and 56 runs win was said to be precautionary but he will be scrutinised by the ECB medical staff in London.
England have displayed loyalty in selection since Stokes took on the captaincy, and changes are unlikely at Lord’s, even though Robinson, Overton and spare batter Harry Brook, of Yorkshire, will report in hot form. But with late-season fatigue and higher temperatures to take into account, they could play parts as the series develops.
England test coach Brendon McCullum has reminded his players to always be positive
One of the post-match discussions in the home dressing room of the St Lawrence Ground focused on England creating a talent pool in Test cricket akin to the one which developed during the white-ball rise between 2015-19.
England’s Test coach Brendon McCullum had addressed the players before the match and reminded them of the blueprint for their cricket.
‘The consistent messaging is run towards the danger, not away from it. So take the positive option. Keep trying to put pressure on the other team, absorb it when we need to, but then when it’s our turn to really hammer it home, hammer it home,’ said Billings, who featured in two of England’s four Test wins this summer as a Covid replacement for wicketkeeper Ben Foakes.
‘It definitely helps if the big boss is here to watch and people want to impress. A lot of them put their hands up to say “yeah, you know what, I really want to be in this Test team.”’
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