Ben Foakes

Foakes’, a wicketkeeper-batsman whose primary skill is wicketkeeping, shot into the limelight when he was included in England's 2017/18 Ashes squad tour party as Bairstow’s deputy with the gloves. Alec Stewart, Foakes' coach at Surrey, a county which incidentally fields 5 other wicketkeepers, hailed him as the world’s best wicketkeeper. The legend of Foakes continued to grow, and despite going Testless in the Ashes, he continues to knock on doors with his performances in case Bairstow and Buttler aren’t available.

In the age of negligence towards wicketkeeping, Foakes appears to be a natural talent with the mitts first and batting second. Foakes is one such youngster who emerged as a promising prospect at Essex. His talent was spotted at an early age and he was slated to play for England but due to the competition posed by Foster, he was forced to move to Surrey in 2014, where his wicketkeeping talents were once again exhibited and the full extent of his talents were utilized.

Foakes was England's leading run-scorer at the 2012 U-19 World Cup and was subsequently selected for the England Lions' limited-overs tour of Australia in 2012-13 which turned disastrous for the Lions. A fruitful tour meant he was fasttracked into the List A side. He made a mark with the bat in the 2013 first-class season notching up his maiden first-class century and was in the news for his stint with the national squad at Trent Bridge in the build-up to the first Ashes Test as a 19-year-old.

After another season, Foakes finally got a hold of the gloves for Surrey and averaged 44 with the bat in the County Championship. His graph was on a rampant upward climb as he smashed his highest first-class score of 141* against Hampshire in a vital match for his County to turn his teams fortunes around.

Since his primary skill was wicketkeeping, he never had a natural batting style and managed to adapt his style according to the requirements: he was capable of blockathons, such as his 59 not out from 235 balls against Middlesex, and he could be the stroke player for his side, as portrayed by his Royal London Cup strike-rate of over 100, and a big-match knock of 90 against Yorkshire in the semi-final at Headingley helping Surrey storm into the final. After another unprecedented year, he averaged over 40 in the County championship and maintained a surreal average of 96.40 in the limited-overs competition at a strike-rate of over a hundred.

Despite fierce competition among the wicketkeepers in England, Foakes managed to race Buttler as Bairstow’s deputy for the 2017/18 Ashes. However, given Buttler’s ridiculous run of form since the IPL of 2018 and beyond, he has forced his way back into the Test side, putting Foakes’ place in a bit of jeopardy. However, still all of 25 years old, Foakes is still knocking on the doors of the selectors and seems to be on the cusp of donning the three-lions crest.

Written by Rishi Roy