Bess in ‘good place’ and ready to play Test cricket without stress
England bowler Dom Bess is excited to have another opportunity to face India but has insisted he will not put pressure on himself during the upcoming Test series.
The Yorkshire spinner was included in a 17-man squad earlier this month for the first twomatchesofthefive-Testseries against a side which beat Joe Root’s men 3-1 back at the startoftheyearinthesub-continent.
Bess played twice in India and endured mixed results, with a five-wicket haul followed by struggles in his other innings while he was not involved in the second and third Tests. Having swapped TauntonforHeadingleythisseason, the 24-year-old has plenty of oversinhislegsandbelieveshe iswellpreparedifgiventhenod alongside first-choice spinner Jack Leach over the next two months.
“This is probably the first timewhereIhaveplayedaload ofcricketandfoundaprocess,” Bess said. “I have contributed with bat, ball and in the field with Yorkshire but not put pressureonmyself,Ijustwanted to enjoy my cricket again.
“AndIguessIhavefoundthe balancenowwhereIhavebeen picked for the England squad again and it is an exciting time but there is no pressure from me to put myself under.
“I just want to enjoy this series because I know how much Ihaveworkedthissummerand what I have done. If I do get the call and things go my way, I’m readybutifitdoesn’tgomyway
that’s fine because I am in the bestpositionandworkingwith really good coaches who know me well, so I’ll keep grafting.”
While 23 wickets at an average of 33.08 from 10 County Championship fixtures are
not headline-grabbing statistics, a caveat is the conditions which greet spinners early in the season.
After largely playing second-fiddle to Leach on England duty and at Somerset, the off-spinner has relished a number of new experiences at Headingley which have aided his development.
Bess added: “I have done a lot of work coming off the back of the winter on myself and my cricket in terms of how I process things. I think I am in a really good space at the moment, probably one of the best spaces I have been in for a very long time.
“It is exciting for that series to come knowing I am in a good place. Five Test matches is a long time and we are up against a very good side in India, who we faced in the winter so it will be exciting to have another crack at them.”