Image Credit- AP
Ben Foakes, who bats
at No. 7 for England in Test cricket, has admitted that he is learning on the
job, but he will still bat in the top six for Surrey in the early going of the
County Championship season.
After batting at No. 7 or 8, Foakes has batted just at No. 25 in Test matches
for England. He has frequently found it difficult to adjust to batting with
tailenders. Their recent 4-1 series loss in India saw him collect 205 runs in
10 innings, his highest score being 47, during which his career average fell
below 30.
“I felt like I kept pretty well; my keeping felt good,” Foakes said,
reflecting on his performances in India. “To start off, I didn’t feel
amazing with the bat and then, yeah, disappointed in a couple of innings that I
didn’t kick on. Again, that role of batting lower down, batting with the tail –
the more I do it, the more I look at it as: ‘How many times can I impact [the
game]?
“Because in some series you might not get an opportunity to go big, for
example, so it is very crucial when you do get a chance to try and really kick
on, so I was disappointed in the fourth Test [in Ranchi] where I could have
kicked on and didn’t. I felt alright with the bat. I’m still evolving and
trying to learn [how to bat] with the tail and how to manage those sorts of
situations.”
In significant
collaborations with elite hitters, such as his series-turning century with Ben
Stokes against South Africa in 2022, Foakes has been content to take the back
seat. However, he has struggled to establish the proper tempo when batting
against England’s bowlers. The second innings at Ranchi featured a ninth-wicket
stand worth 12 runs in 12.2 overs with Shoaib Bashir, which was possibly the
best example of such troubles.
However, Foakes does not plan to drop in the Championship in order to increase
his experience in that capacity. Rather, he feels that making as many runs as
possible from the middle order will best suit his aspirations of staying in the
England team ahead of their next Test match against the West Indies on July 10.
“It’s
tricky,” he said. “I’ve been in and out of England, but it’s always
been about trying to get runs to get back in the England team. Here [at The
Oval] I’ve found a pretty good spot at No. 5. I’ve been pretty successful for a
few years, and for me, it is about always working on my game so I feel like I
can do a decent job if that situation does arise.
“There was definitely a period where all my focus and all my training was
just to bat and bat and bat, and trying to grind big scores. For me, it is more
about trying to score big runs for Surrey but then also working on that
[batting with the tail] as more of an add-on than just the odd session… to
maybe have a gameplan where I can take someone down rather than just bat
against them.”