Foakes defying the pain to earn mentor’s praise

BACK injuries and wicketkeeping don’t make for happy bedfellows but Ben Foakes managed to shake off a bulging disc to break a 23-year-old record with the England Lions.

Foakes was barely a year old when Steve Rhodes took nine dismissals against Transvaal in Johannesburg back in late 1993 – but he topped it with ten in Dambulla against Sri Lanka, albeit in a narrow loss for the Lions that finished on Monday.

That was despite the Surrey keeper suffering a back injury just before heading out to Sri Lanka forcing him to work with the physios to ensure he can cope with long days in the field on the Sub-continent.

But while back injuries are concerning for keepers, Foakes is confident it won’t be a longterm issue. He said:“I’ve got a bulging disc.We were training in Loughborough and I felt some pain.

“The disc had touched a nerve. It got a bit better but after the long flight here the first few days weren’t easy.

“I’ve found keeping more of an issue especially when it gets towards the end of the day but the physios have been great.

“It’s just a case of making sure I keep it as strong as I can. I’ve never had back issues before so I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Foakes’ performance earned him high praise from the Lions wicketkeeping coach Bruce French, with one catch in the 128th over off Tom Curran particularly impressive.

He said: “Bruce knows my keeping inside out and he’s a great keeping coach. I feel I’ve made good progress in the two games over here and I’m happy with the way my keeping has been going.

“Bruce wants me to make an impact on the game with my keeping. He talks about turning a strength into a super strength. Ideally you want to be able to influence the game by getting to a ball someone else can’t or standing up to the quick bowlers.

“I was standing up to Sam Curran here and that’s something I really enjoy. Some of the fast bowlers need some persuading but cricket’s a long game and when you stand back for a couple of hours in a session it wakes you up to then stand up to stumps.

“Obviously in Australia and England it’s a bit different but here it makes an impact.”

Foakes has also been receiving input from Lions coach Andy Flower about improving against spin on the Sub-continent.

He said: “I can turn to Andy for more of the batting side of things, as someone who has had so much success against spin over here. I know there’s still lots to learn for me when it comes to playing spin.”