Dom determined to be England’s Bess spinner against West Indies
start," said the 22-year-old.
"That'snormal,whenyou're in our position you want to be making the XI. It would be a goodachievementanditbrings a lot of responsibility to make sure I'm still bowling the best I can.
"There is amazing competition here and that's good. There's no spitefulness, nothing like that, we help each other, we're looking to improve each other. It's a really big challenge for me, making sure whenIcomeintothisarena,into these practice games, that I focus on what I can do.
"I think I've done that really wellsofarandIjustwanttoput myselfinthebestpossiblepositionsothatwhenthatselection does come I've given it my all."
While Bess' action looked in good order on his return to competitive after more than three months, he admitted thecoronavirusshutdownhad left him fretting about how he would feel when he got back to the middle.
"After so much time off I was a bit nervous coming back into it," he said.
"It'sbeennicetofeeltheball coming out nicely in my hand. InthemonthIhadatSomerset I was pushing my coach, Jason Kerr, to keep bowling more. I had to be told a couple of times to stop and just build my way back. I wanted to get that feel back, that rhythm, the little things."
Sometimes, though, the efforts of the man standing 22 yards away can render all of those little things irrelevant.
While generally tight, Bess wasonthereceivingendofone incredible shot from Stokes that left him open-mouthed.
"It was a really good challenge bowling at Stokesy. I thought I genuinely did him with one and he somehow hit me on the up over extra-cover for six," he said with a smile.
"I was just thinking 'this is why he's one of the best in the world.He'sabsolutelynowhere near it and he still middles it for six'. It was a good test for me and I think I bounced back strong."