Yahoo News Ben Foakes refreshed and craving cricket again after summer in England's bubble
A year ago, Ben Foakes could not wait for October – usually a month of holidays and lie-ins for English cricket cricketers – to arrive.
He told Standard Sport in an interview in February that he was “zombie-like”, “burnout”, “not in the right headspace”, and “blank” as the 2019 season drew to a close. He had ended 2018 as England’s man of the series on debut in Sri Lanka, but was dropped after two more matches and ended the 2019 season knackered, having captained Surrey and endured his worst ever summer with the bat. He was 26, and not had a break of more than three weeks in his whole career. “I feel like I’ve been playing 20 years,” he said.
This time, the story is very different. As he prepares for a game in October (a first for county cricket), he sounds chipper and fresh, ready for a Vitality Blast quarter-final against Kent on Thursday and, he hopes, Finals Day on Saturday. Foakes does not want this strange, shortened season to end and is craving cricket.
“I am glad we’re going into October!” He says. "It’s getting a bit colder. I’ll be getting the jumper on. It’s a weird feeling knowing it’s almost done already, when I’ve just got back into it. We’ve just got to make the most of it and try to make sure we have as many games left as possible.”
It is little surprise that Foakes is craving cricket for two reasons: he waited so long for a game and, when it came, things went rather well.
When we spoke in February, he had not played for five months (largely spent resting), but had just been named in England’s squad to tour Sri Lanka. They got there, but the coronavirus pandemic meant it never happened. He was selected for England’s bubble when the game returned but, apart from warm-ups, did not get a shot in a challenging environment.
After almost three months as Jos Buttler’s understudy, he was finally released to play for Surrey against Kent on 22 August – 332 days after he had left the field feeling so drained. Surrey lost a close game, but Foakes performed brilliantly: his keeping was as elegant as ever, and he made a first innings century and 57 (from 20 for four) to give them hope in a doomed chase. Since, he has had a tidy T20 campaign, scrambling in Surrey’s middle order.
“By the time cricket came back, around June, I was desperate to play,” he says. “I had been happy chilling, but I got back practising in the garden, then it was great to go into the England bubble. I was itching to play cricket.
“The first period in there [until the end of the series vs West Indies] was great. Just to be back in that environment, training felt like games to me just because I hadn’t had any proper cricket. I got to work with Frenchy [Bruce French] again and got a lot of good work done with Matt Walker. I could see myself getting better.
“Coming back for the second bubble [after a couple of days out between series] was more tricky. Jos was doing so well so I knew I wasn’t going to play, and Surrey playing again, not being there. But it was still good to be around and I worked hard.
“It’s a strange position being the back-up keeper. When someone’s doing well, you know you’re not going to play. Even a spinner, if you turn up and it’s a bunsen, two of you might play. You don’t rotate keepers. It’s a strange place, but I just tried to get out of it whatever I could so that when I do play, whatever it is for, how can I be the best prepared I can be?
“The release of playing, and the release of doing well, was something. I was pretty nervous going into that first game. When you’re here, playing Darren Stevens as your first one back, and you haven’t faced a bowler in a while… that’s a pretty daunting thing. It was a relief making runs.”
Foakes has learnt plenty about himself over the last year.
"The thing I noticed about myself is that I just when I have a clear head, how much better I am at cricket,” he said. “That game, even without the match practise, I was going in completely clear, with my exact gameplan in mind, what I needed to do to succeed. I could just continue repeating that. When I do get worn out, I find it very difficult to repeat that over a long period.
“It’s just about not trying to take too much on. As a keeper-bat in a dual role, if I am doing that 12 months a year for a few years in a row, I know I will burn out eventually.
“It’s about selectively picking and choosing the right time to have a break, and trusting that I can get back into cricket, rather than thinking I need to train constantly to be ready. When I have a week off, most people would think it’s a week off, but I would be training then. I’m appreciating that my mental side is as or more important, and trusting myself to get back into it.”
Another extended break seems likely from next week. Foakes can expect to go on England’s red-ball camp to the UAE before Christmas, then be involved in the squad for the series against Sri Lanka and India in January. After the summer Buttler had – his keeping was patchy but his batting excellent, with an average of 52 – he is not getting ahead of himself.
“I am excited at the prospect this winter, but I’m not looking at it thinking I’ll be picked,” he says. “I’m trying to enjoy the cricket – I don’t know if it’ll go ahead, or if I’ll be in the squad. If it does, and I am, I’ll take that as a blessing.”
