BESS: I COULDN’T GET A GAME AT SIDMOUTH!
THE only other time Dom Bess visited Lord’s, his involvement was limited to a culinary rather than cricketing feast but tomorrow he is hoping to get stuck in to the Pakistan batsmen rather than the legendary lunches. ‘I’ve never played at Lord’s before,’ said the wide-eyed 20-year-old, who seems certain to make his Test debut tomorrow. ‘I was 12th man the only time I came, so I just enjoyed the lunches. I put on a bit over those few days! It was my first time properly in London.’ It was refreshing yesterday to see the enthusiasm and no little confidence from the Somerset off-spinner as he contemplated the latest step on his journey from Devon club cricket to the pinnacle of the game. ‘Just the opportunity to be here is a dream come true,’ said the engaging Bess, who owes his selection to the misfortune of his injured Somerset team-mate Jack
Leach. ‘Here I am at Lord’s with the possibility of making my Test debut. You’ve got to enjoy that haven’t you?’ A measure of the ambition of Bess, who remarkably considers himself a ‘late developer’, came in the revelation of how he left his family club Sidmouth at 14 because he was struggling for opportunities. ‘There was a spinner there called Charlie Miles,’ explained Bess, who moved to Exeter before progressing to Somerset and then impressing with England Lions. ‘He was very good so I never got a chance and I thought I had to move to progress. It was quite a bold statement, I think, because my grandfather, father and all my cousins played at Sidmouth. I got a bit of stick but my mum and dad backed me so I don’t regret it.’ What happened to the off-spinner who was good enough to keep England’s newcomer out of the Sidmouth side? ‘Charlie is still playing first-team cricket at Sidmouth,’ said Bess. ‘I’ve always been close to him.’