When Ed Smith named his first England Test squad as national selector, it was notable for two contrasting cricketers from Somerset. The first, Jos Buttler, had long since left that nest and his wings expanded yet further from that point. As of this week, he has MBE next to his name. But the other who turned out for England against Pakistan last summer, Dom Bess, has been invisible since. That is until Friday in Cape Town, where he has bolted back into the box seat for inclusion.
That he was called up to this squad on the basis of a veritable pandemic – now striking 17 of the touring party and support staff – suggests a mood of desperation given how far Bess, now 22, had ventured from prominence. However, they are also similar circumstances to those that won him his debut. Then, Moeen Ali was out of favour having prioritised white-ball above red after a shocking Ashes series and Jack Leach, who took over as principal spinner, was injured. Now, the former is again on the T20 circuit after losing his Test spot and contract after Australia tore his confidence apart in the Ashes opener last August, while the latter has spent the last week in quarantine, hit hardest by the bug that has decimated the ranks.
Bess found out about his debut selection when Smith called him as he was sofa shopping. To then, a whirlwind two years had seen him claim five bags of five with his off-spin in his first six County Championship starts, another on debut for the England Lions in Antigua, before making a ton for the MCC in the annual season-opening fixture. Suddenly, he was readying himself to become the youngest finger spinner ever to represent his country in a Test match with Vic Marks – the Lord of this Parish, and another Somerset tweaker – presenting the cap.
The next fortnight was eventful. To begin, he was wicketless and largely ineffective with the ball but compiled an assured 57 with the bat – mostly alongside Buttler – to give the hosts faint hope from an otherwise dire match. At Headingley, Bess made 49 further impressive runs (coming in as nightwatchman) before claiming his first three England wickets. He also snaffled a spectacular one-handed catch off Jimmy Anderson’s bowling, the veteran superstar who he could well end up replacing as Joe Root’s side reconfigure for the second Test.
But when the Test side reassembled to play India in August 2018, he was overlooked for the returning Moeen. There were comforting words from Smith of Bess’s “outstanding all-round contribution” against Pakistan but there was a problem: he was no longer getting a game for his county. Already into the wilderness, demoted to Somerset’s second XI barely a month after contributing to a Test win. So often the lot in life of a spinner when competing for one spot, Leach – his county teammate, too – was the senior man with no further room at the inn. Bess’ dismount from 2018 was a nightmare against Lancashire, given only four overs with the ball then dismissed to a wild heave with the scores level in a game that would be tied.
“I got to the top of Mount Everest with the Test stuff and then fell off,” Bess would later reflect of the chastening experience. Somerset’s coach, Jason Kerr, observed that firsthand. “It doesn’t matter who you are that’s incredibly tough,” he says of the acute fall. “He had this meteoric rise where everything he touched turned to gold and was playing at Lord’s in a Test Match. To deal with that immense high and playing second-team cricket just a few weeks later, it was a turbulent time and he found it very difficult. But he has matured a hell of a lot and is much clearer in terms of knowing there are only certain things he can control. He’s a much stronger character now and will be a much better cricketer for it in the long term.”
The turbulence morphed into a move during 2019, albeit on a temporary basis, to Yorkshire. A product of the Somerset Academy, he was now on loan at the ground where he played most recently for England. Alas, after four starts (and a later spell at Leeds in the T20 Blast), Bess was back to Taunton for the final stretch of the season. On his return, he claimed his first five-wicket haul for two seasons, finishing with 26 scalps at a useful average of 26.
“It is easy to get his head turned regarding having certain opportunities,” Kerr says of Yorkshire’s interest in Bess, with Kent also apparently sniffing around. “He’s obviously very ambitious and wants to get back to the giddy heights of international cricket sooner rather than later. But we have been very transparent with him: we think he is an incredibly talented cricketer. We certainly want him to be at Somerset for the long haul. He obviously has competition at Somerset but is still one of the better spinners in the country. We have to try and find a way to keep them both.”
Amid the volatility, Bess remained in the thinking of decision-makers to the extent that he was taken on a Lions spin camp in Mumbai this winter. There, under the tutelage of Sri Lanka’s Rangana Herath and former England twirler Richard Dawson, he impressed sufficiently to become the man to call for when Leach fell ill. Coming in hot, he has already bowled himself ahead of Matt Parkinson, the leg-spinner originally sent on tour in support of Leach. His strength with the bat surely stands out in the memory too, given the long tail that was exposed twice against South Africa when an all-pace attack was deployed.
Whether Bess is ripe for the challenge at Newlands – especially for bowling long, frugal spells to keep the seamers fresh – the coming days will tell. Yes, it’s likely that, unless he can win selection as much for his batting as his bowling, come April he will be back to second-team cricket – again behind Leach – and might take a while before this is no longer the status quo for club or country. Or he might bowl the house down and turn that thinking on its head. After the last 18 months, what’s certain is that he won’t be lacking for motivation.