Ben Foakes is relieved after a timely century gives him confidence in his Test credentials.

Ben Foakes is relieved after a timely century gives him confidence in his Test credentials.

Ben Foakes is relieved after a timely century gives him confidence in his Test credentials. Ben Foakes admits that it can be hard to fit in with the new England men’s Test team, but he hopes that his second Test century is a sign that he is doing things the right way.5

On day two of the match against South Africa at Old Trafford, Foakes was unbeaten with 113 runs, and the home team declared victory with 415 runs for nine outs, giving them a 264-run lead in the first innings. Even though it wasn’t the kind of aggressive innings we’re used to seeing from Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, the Surrey wicketkeeper got to 100 off 206 balls, which was a big help when England needed it most.

The Fabulous Knock

Along with Stokes, who scored 103, it was a beneficial knock. The two of them put on 173 runs for the sixth wicket. When they got to 147 for 5, they were still four runs behind the Proteas. However, the fact that they could handle the pressure and keep adding runs, which sped up when Foakes was batting with the last batsman, showed that all the thinking and hard work paid off for the 29-year-old.

In Sri Lanka in November 2018, during his first game in this format, he got his first hundred. Since then, he has become a reliable No. 5 for Surrey. Seven of his 13 first-class hundreds, at an average of 43, have come for Surrey. He started his career at Essex, where he has three. Even though it took him a while to get used to batting lower for England and having a different way of thinking, this was a big step in the right direction.

Big Score For Foakes

“It’s a different role, at Surrey I just bat five and just play,” Foakes said. “When you get on quite challenging wickets batting at seven, obviously there’s a good chance you lose wickets quickly and you have to play a different way. I think for me it’s learning how to do that as well as I can. Just because it’s not my natural game. Finding a way to be able to, quite early on in my innings, put pressure back on the bowler rather than just batting.”

“When I bat at five hundreds are definitely something I think about, but at seven I think more about just trying to contribute because obviously you’re not going to get as many opportunities to get a hundred. If I can get 40 with the tail and dominate that partnership, that’s my job. Getting a big partnership here and getting a century definitely gives me some confidence going forward.”

After 14 Tests and four years, when he got another big score on the board, the relief was apparent. He didn’t just celebrate by pumping his fists to himself before getting a warm hug from his partner at the time, Ollie Robinson, and the applause of a full Emirates Old Trafford.

Recent Inconsistencies

Since his first game, Foakes has been in and out of the lineup on a whim or because he was hurt, like when he tore his hamstring at the beginning of 2021. Then, earlier this summer, he got Covid-19 during the Headingley Test against New Zealand. This kept him from playing in the second half of the match and in the next Test against India. Twin losses at Lord’s (6 and 0) made him feel even worse, but he has come out of it in an excellent way. Before this match, the average was 26.91. Thanks to the red ink, it is now 31.82.

His say

“I just felt awful in that game [Headingley],” he said. “Getting the opportunity of being number one and then pretty soon after getting something like that is very frustrating, I’ve had a bit of stuff going on since I first played but I’m used to little setbacks like that.”

“To be honest, in my first 10 games I was kind of looking and thinking ‘jeez how hard is Test cricket’. The West Indies tour [in 2019], the wickets out there – and then I came in for those three in India [last year] and it was obviously crazy to bat on and I guess this is a different role as well.”

“I think it’s just that I’ve been a little bit out of touch,” he said of his performance at Lord’s last week. “I haven’t been lining it up as well as I’d like in the last couple of Championship games and then in the first one at Lord’s. So for me it was just working out how to do that better. That’s what I worked on between these two games. And I felt like I did line it up better and play better.”

“Because it’s not my natural game, it’s just trying to work out how to play best. And I think sometimes I haven’t got the balance right because I’m not an explosive batter. If I’m trying to get the score up I can start pushing at the ball and things like that and playing at balls I shouldn’t be. It’s been really clear, obviously practicing in a different way for that role, but also being really clear when I am just going to bat or when I have to push the button… how I’m going to do it. Don’t just throw my bat outside off stump. I’m happy to get out if I’m doing this or this, but not just giving it away.”