Boucher confident of countering England's aggressive approach

South Africa head coach Mark Boucher felt that better batting conditions and taking control of situations have helped England chase targets excess of 250 in their first four Tests under head coach Brendon McCullum.

After struggling in red-ball cricket for the past two years, England looked reinvigorated by the aggressive style, nicknamed as 'Bazball', under McCullum. They blanked New Zealand 3-0 and then went on to chase a record 378 against India at Edgbaston to level a five-match series 2-2.

"The conditions have allowed for England to play that way. That's just about being smart and assessing conditions on the day. If you see a moment to really put the hammer down, we've seen how it can pay off, as England have shown us. I do think Test cricket is going that way," Boucher said ahead of South Africa's warm-up 50-over match against England Lions at Taunton.

Boucher felt that England's batting has benefitted by the innovations brought on by T20 cricket.

"It's probably the way that red-ball cricket is going. If you look at the introduction of T20 cricket, the run-rates have increased in red-ball cricket. There's going to be times where the conditions don't allow you to play that way but if the conditions allow you to play that way, I'm sure that you're going to see batting line-ups try and put bowlers under pressure," 

The former South Africa wicketkeeper said he expected McCullum to emphasize on playing aggressive cricket.

"We know how Brendon played and we've heard the conversations around him when he was coach of KKR as well that he wanted to have this really aggressive style of play. It's exciting to watch. I watched a lot of those games and England did really well," Boucher said.

With the weather forecast predicting a heat wave across UK in the next few weeks, Boucher expects South African spinners Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer to exploit the dry pitches. South Africa are set to play three Tests after three ODIs and as many T20Is from August 17 to September 12.

"We've come to England now and every day has been hot. There are certain conversations that we'll have in our dressing room to try and counteract their aggressive approach: we always speak about having a bit of aggression but being smart as well so that's where our smartness is going to have to come into the equation as well," he said.

"There is a bit of time still to go to sum up the conditions and see if the wickets get even flatter and maybe a bit drier as well - that can bring spin into the equation, and we feel we've got all those different aspects covered in our squads," Boucher added.

Boucher also refuted claims of rift with CSA's new director of cricket Enoch Nkwe, who had resigned as the team's assistant coach last August.

"Besides reports of the past, myself and Enoch have always had a very good relationship and we had a nice chat before we left. I'm quite excited to work with him. I think he's got some fantastic ideas," Boucher said.