England off-spinner Dom Bess hopes to benefit from plenty of early-season overs should he face India in an upcoming Test series after mixed results against Virat Kohli's men earlier this year.
England and India are due to clash in a series of 5 Test matches beginning on August 4 in Trent Bridge. England has had the upper hand against India at home in the Test series, winning 3-1 in 2014 and 4-1 in 2018. However, they are coming off a 3-1 loss to India in India earlier this year, which cost them a place in the final of the World Test Championship.
Bess has been included in England’s 17-man squad for the first two encounters and was part of the squad which toured India as well and played in two Tests. He picked a five-wicket haul followed by a poor return in his other innings with the 24-year-old omitted from the second and third tests.
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Bess believes he will be well prepared for an England recall after his overs with English county Yorkshire.
"This is probably the first time where I have played a load of cricket and found a process. I have contributed with the bat, ball, and in the field with Yorkshire but not put pressure on myself, I just wanted to enjoy my cricket again. And I guess I have found the balance now where I have been picked for the England squad again,” Bess said.
Dom Bes has picked 23 wickets at an average of 33.08 from 10 County Championship fixtures so far.
"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 I have worked this summer and what I have done,” Bess added.
Bess also opined on former England captain Michael Vaughan’s opinion that players might pull out of the Ashes 2021-22 down under if they were unable to bring their families with them should the strict Covid-19 regulations in several Australian states remained in force.
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Bess said: "Obviously I don't know what will be happening or what Australia and their regulations are -- but I think if your name was on the ticket and you were going to an Ashes series as a 24-year-old, you would never ever turn that down. I don't want to go too far ahead though. We have five tests against India and we know how good they are home and away. It wouldn't be the best thing to think about the Ashes now when there is this big series coming up."
After the first Test in Trent Bridge, the second Test will be played At Lord’s from August 12, the third Test to be played in Leeds from Aug 25. The fourth encounter will begin on September 2 at the Oval and the last Test match will get underway in Manchester from September 10.
(AFP inputs)
