The trends in the game are changing. The teams have begun to prefer batter who can keep than a traditional keeper who can contribute. Sandwiched between these two, a lot of keepers end up carrying drinks or be the understudy for the batters who keeps well. It’s a hard position to be in. Ask Saha (I know this is debatable). Ask Foakes (this isn’t). It is just unfortunate that there is only one spot for the Wicket-keeper.
By this time, Foakes is used to situations like this. He literally had to move to Surrey from his Essex early in his career because of James Foster. This man was just too good to be true. Soon, Surrey witnessed the rise of Foakes both from behind the stumps and with the bat. Alec Stewart who had witnessed his growth at Surrey called him the World’s best wicket-keeper.
Of course, he definitely had his moments with the bat for Surrey. One knock to remember was his 90 against Yorkshire where he played a perfect second fiddle for Steven Davies who made 104 that day. Foakes returned with a stroke-filled 90. His 64-ball 92 against Somerset in the One Day Cup or his 141* against Hampshire are a few good examples of his talent. He doesn’t bat like Buttler or Bairstow but can switch on and off whenever it is needed. His five-hour marathon of Stubbornness and defence against Middlesex where he had 59* from 235 deliveries shows he isn’t just a man of the one-way display.
All these took him to Sri Lanka and he once again proved with the bat that he could be the man for the team. 107, 37 and 65* made him the player of the series in the series. Two months later, a couple of bat matches with the bat dragged him down and he ended up being the 3rd choice after Buttler and Bairstow in the team. With both the players getting their form at the right time, Foakes had to wait.
Of course, he is human. He is going to have frustrations. He had to take a time out from the game, skip a tour or two to get back with a fresh mind and was all set to tour to Sri Lanka but this pandemic killed his hope as the tour was postponed. When it finally happened, he ended up carrying drinks for Jos Buttler.
When Buttler decided to go home, it was a lucky opportunity for Foakes in the 2nd Test. He did live up to the hype when it comes to the keeping as he returned with a clean sheet in the first innings. Zero extras certainly looked like a badge he could wear all-day. Except for a couple of poor pickups and a tough stumping chance, Foakes is having a good Test so far. That stumping chance, for his standards, that was an easy one. He would’ve been disappointed for not pulling it off.
Foakes is a tall man. He doesn’t do full squat for every single delivery but a half-squat where he looks like he is mooning to the dressing room or the crowd behind him. Half-squat keeps his eye and the pitch of the ball at the same level. He usually practices with Saucer Cones where someone would throw him the deliveries right at the cone and the ball does take weird turns after pitching. Probably, one reason why he was able to do well against the weird turn and bounce in the first innings.
Day 2 began with a quick stumping to get rid of Axar Patel and two formality catches to remove Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammad Siraj. Later, he came in to bat when the team was needing someone to get them out of the misery at 52 for 5. He returned with 42* after almost two and half hours of resistance.
He wasn’t simply going behind everything but was able to pick his length quickly and trusted his defence. Of course, he has a solid one. His bat was in the right position wherever it had to be to save his wicket. His height came in handy to take long strides and there were times when he was able to check his shots at the last moment. There were beautiful drives along the ground and he managed to play in the back foot more often. Going to the back foot means, he had the option of putting the deliveries in multiple directions. He tried to play it down, play it with soft hands, thus, none of the edges carried to the fielders. After initial few deliveries, he didn’t sweep much because of the weird turn and bounce which could’ve landed him in more trouble just like in the case of Root.
There were moments of nervousness when the ball took weird turns and did put him in an awkward position. There were body blows too, he took a few to his hands. Still, Foakes was all set for these and handled them very well. The only thing that had seemed to trouble him today was the fact that he kept running out of partners. He deserved at least a fifty for the resistance he had shown today. Nevertheless, he would be glad to return to cricket with a performance like this after being out for a while even from the first-class cricket now.
Never mind what he does here, he knows that this is just a temporary assignment and when Buttler comes back, he will be back to being his understudy. His position in the team is uncertain even for the next Test but again, Foakes will take one at a time but will carry that glimpse of hope.
Here’s to 28, Happy Birthday
