Conrad wary of post-Bazball England

The mayhem that enveloped the England team recently has piqued the interest of the Proteas but Shukri Conrad doesn’t believe it will be a major distraction when they face his side later this year.

“I wouldn’t read too much into what is going on there currently. Very often, when you have a deurmekaarspul [chaos] like this, it tends to galvanise teams,” said Conrad.

From late night shenanigans in pubs, breaking their own curfew, and then the shock retirement of captain Ben Stokes in the middle of a Test match, the environment around the England team has descended into farce.

Stokes, an architect of “Bazball” along with head coach Brendon McCullum, seemed to give up on that proactive style during a chastening Ashes series Down Under last season.

Schisms seemed to occur between coach and captain and in ending his career, Stokes went down in a blaze of fury, handing New Zealand a Test series win in the process.

“I don’t know what ‘ball’ they’ll be playing when they get here,” Conrad chirped.

Anticipating a tough series

Nevertheless he is still anticipating a tough series, which will encompass the Boxing Day and New Year’s Test matches. “I’m not looking too far ahead, whatever we get against England, we get. Against Pakistan we’ll get a good idea what their side will look like and where they’re going,” said Conrad

“They’re still a bloody good side. They’ve got some dangerous Test match players; Joe Root is still one of the best in the world.”

South Africa’s record against England in the last 14 years, is poor. Since Graeme Smith led his team to a 2-0 series win in 2012, the Proteas have won only four of their 15 Tests against the English, losing the last six series between the two countries.

The last time South Africa won a series on home soil against England, Hansie Cronje was captain, and gave away the last match, in exchange for a leather jacket in 1999/2000.