Ben Foakes: Dropped wicketkeeper admits watching the Ashes series was hard after being overlooked for England
Surrey and England wicketkeeper Ben Foakes bears no grudges after being dropped for the Ashes in favour of Jonny Bairstow; watch The Hundred on Sky Sports Cricket
Ben Foakes admits that missing the Ashes was hard, but is happy to focus on success for Surrey as he picks himself up after disappointment
As the latest Ashes series drew to a thrilling close, interest in the game has risen sharply, but Foakes had to remain an observer after being dropped in favour of Jonny Bairstow.
“You feel a bit lost. You get to exactly where you want to be, your career path is going a certain way and then it takes a halt and goes a completely different direction,” Foakes told Telegraph Sport.
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“The guys who got picked have done well too. There’s no sour grapes, it’s just a weird head space. I’ve had quite a topsy-turvy career, then you are where you want to be, performing, dropped.”
Being dropped in favour of Bairstow was not a new experience. Foakes made his Test debut in Sri Lanka in 2018-2019 and together with a century, he was named man of his maiden series.
However, he made way for a returning Bairstow, and history repeated itself this summer as the Surrey gloveman, who toured Pakistan and New Zealand in the winter, found himself sidelined again.
“The first time I got dropped, I had been man of the series, the best I’ve ever played, then got dropped two games later, but those two games went badly,” he said.
“This time I’d done well and been happy with the way I’d been playing. You feel a bit lost. You get to exactly where you want to be, your career path is going a certain way and then it takes a halt and goes a completely different direction.
“It’s a bit of a sinking feeling, because you don’t really know what to do, because you can’t tell yourself you didn’t do well.”
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Despite the rollercoaster, Foakes bears no sour-grapes towards the decision makers at England cricket.
“It is selection, people had a decision to make. Regardless of the way it went, I can understand the decision they reached. I am not furious. I am gutted. It’s happened before, and it’s how you deal with it.
“In the past it’s thrown me, and maybe this time it’s thrown me the most, because I was doing well. It’s about how you refocus and go well from it rather than letting it drain you and suck the dedication out of you.
“How do I refocus? It doesn’t have to be playing for England. It might be winning Championships for Surrey, playing more T20 cricket.”
Foakes was England’s concussion sub and could also have been called up as a sub wicketkeeper for what have been his first Ashes series, had Bairstow been injured.
“Watching was difficult. The last year was the first time I’d felt like an England player, rather than a county player occasionally coming in, and feeling like you (are) playing your last game at any time.
“That was the first time that I felt part of a team, from a backing point of view. Without feeling anything to do with it, you do feel a part of it. You have played with them all, know what they are going through, want them to do well. Didn’t win unfortunately, but what it’s done has been great for the country.”
Foakes will continue to focus on white-ball cricket in the meantime, and admits he wants to improve his batting.
“If I fully invest in red ball and you don’t get in the team, you are left in the lurch a bit,” he says. “So I will probably use that period later this year to try to whack it.”
I’ll just be trying to find my best cricket and block everything else out and try to win the Championship. That’s a great distraction.”
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