Former England cricketer-turned-commentator Steve Harmison said Dom Bess had been “chucked under the bus” by England after the tourists suffered a massive defeat in the final Test, saying he really feels sorry and has much sympathy with the spinner for what he went through during the India tour.
India defeated England by an innings and 25 runs to win the fourth and final Test to clinch the five-match Test series at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday (March 6) – which meant the Indian cricket team qualified to play in the ICC World Test Championship final against New Zealand.
Bess returned with figures of 0-71 with England captain Joe Root giving him just 17 overs to bowl in the final Test and Harmison said he wasn’t surprised why the 23-year-old had not been at his best.
Despite taking 17 wickets in England's first three Tests of their winter tour – two Test matches against Sri Lanka and the first Test in Chennai, Bess was then replaced by fellow off-spinner Moeen Ali in the second Test which was lost by the tourists by 321 runs in Chennai.
Then, England gave Moeen a pre-planned break and Bess was again ignored for the day-night Test in Ahmedabad – where the tourists suffered a humiliating defeat by 10-wickets, before he was recalled in the final Test which England lost by an innings on Saturday.
Harmison told Talksport radio: “Dom Bess was chucked under the bus by the whole hullabaloo with Moeen Ali. The minute they asked Moeen Ali to stay was the minute Bess was going under that bus... That's culminated in the day's cricket that we've got today (Friday).”
The former pacer further added, “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’. I feel so sorry for the kid, I really do. I have so much sympathy with him, I've been in that place and I know where he's at.”
Meanwhile, former England captain Andrew Strauss also sympathized with Bess while saying the spinner’s performance strewn with loose deliveries were “well below what was required of a mainline Test spin bowler”.
Strauss told Channel Four television: “It was painful to watch if I'm honest. I felt slightly sorry for him at points and you just can't have that in Test cricket.”
(With AFP Inputs)
