Dominic Bess

Not everyone is that adroit to scalp Virat Kohli as one’s maiden Test scalp in India. But if you are Dominic Mark Bess, then it is a completely different story altogether. Bess started his first-class journey for Somerset when he was merely 16 years old and in a couple of months represented England at the U-19 level. 

During his Championship debut in 2016, the spinner found himself in a good place where the whole Taunton crowd was roaring to support the debutant. Bess celebrated his maiden game with the figures of 6 for 21, where he got Warwickshire's key pair Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott in successive balls. The off-spinner joined forces with Jack Leach to take his county to some unthinkable heights when Somerset gambled to lay turning tracks for the 2016-17 Championship.

Bess had previously seen his opportunities limited at times as the second choice behind Jack Leach at Somerset, running in with the drinks as the 12th man in the English domestic circuit.

In 2018, when his Somerset-mate Leach got his thumb injured, it was Bess who got the honours of wearing the three English Lions. The off-spinner made his Test debut against Pakistan at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, but due to failures in his first assignment, Bess got brushed off. And it was not until 2020 when Bess got back in the Test set-up.

Bess was included in the English squad for the India tour and picked 17 wickets in the four-match Test series against India but he struggled for consistency and he was dropped for two Test matches as well. After the series, he revealed his hatred towards cricket during the India tour and also said that he will take the learnings forward to put up consistent performances. 

(As of August 2021)