Bess was thrown under bus: Harmison

FORMER England bowler Steve Harmison claimed Dom Bess had been ‘chucked under the bus’ after his struggles with the ball helped India turn the tide on day two of the fourth Test.

The game was finely balanced with the hosts 146-6 in response to 205, but 101 from Rishabh Pant and an unbeaten 60 from Washington Sundar saw India finish 89 ahead on 294-7, leaving England to rue an uneven attack which had been thinned out to make room for an extra batsman.

Bess was trusted with just 15 overs and finished wicketless at a cost of 56.

His figures could have been worse given the lack of control he was able to exert, but the 23-year-old received a sympathetic hearing from Harmison, who questioned his treatment on the tour.

After taking 17 wickets at 22 each in the first three Tests of the winter, he was dropped for Moeen

Ali, who was then asked to delay a planned rest period and remain with the squad.

Had he agreed, Bess would probably not have taken the field in Ahmedabad.

“Dom Bess was chucked under the bus by the whole hullabaloo with

Moeen Ali,” Harmison said. “The minute they asked Moeen Ali to stay was the minute Bess was going under that bus. That, for me, was a downward spiral for a young kid who has played very few Test matches.

“He sat and watched for the last two or three weeks and all he can think about is Moeen Ali staying -

‘Everybody’s wanting Moeen Ali’.

“That’s culminated in the day’s cricket that we’ve got today. I feel so sorry for the kid, I really do.

“I have so much sympathy with him, I’ve been in that place.”