"Everyone will have ups and downs, it's just the journey I'm on": The story of Dom Bess' breakthrough year

SAM DALLING: Rewind to this time last year: the young off-spinner was struggling to make his county’s first team, let add to the pair of Test caps he’d picked up 18 months previously

For most of the world, and just about everyone in cricket, 2020 was a year in which life was turned upside down. Dom Bess, however, is a rare exception.

Rewind to this time last year: the young off-spinner was struggling to make his county’s first team, let add to the pair of Test caps he’d picked up 18 months previously.

Joe Root’s men were touring South Africa over the festive period and Bess hadn’t made the cut. Not initially. But when Jack Leach fell ill, Bess came back into the frame.

He appeared in the second Test in early 2020 and followed that with a maiden five-wicket haul in the third match of the series at Port Elizabeth.

He was left out for the series finale at the Wanderers, but hasn’t glanced back, spending much of the summer cocooned in the England bubble. He appeared in every Test of the summer and was rewarded with an ECB incremental contract.

The last reported sighting of the 23-year-old came at Lord’s, where he was on 12th man duty for the Bob Willis Trophy Final. But since then, he has been able to reflect on an encouraging year.

“This time last year I was struggling with my mental health, struggling at Somerset and nowhere near the England side,” he tells The Cricketer. “If you had said to me back then that by now I’d have played 10 Test matches, taken my first five-wicket haul and gained an incremental contract, I’d have bitten your hand off.

“There were times this summer where I was really frustrated with things and couldn’t understand why it wasn’t happening. That’s where I have to sit back. Everyone will have ups and downs, it’s just the journey I’m on. It’s been amazing year and if keep going like this, I’d like to think that by this time next year, I’ll be in a place where I’m performing regularly in international cricket, or at least giving myself the best chance to.”

^{Bess spent his final days as a Somerset player performing 12th man duties}

The ability to step back and see the bigger picture will serve Bess well off the field, as well as on it. He was both candid and brave in speaking about his ongoing battle with anxiety early in lockdown.

Mental health is not a new phenomenon. It’s always been there, a dark cloud hovering nearby ready to burst at any minute. But until recently it was a taboo subject, pushed away and ignored. It needs to be addressed and fortunately attitudes are shifting. The world is accepting that it’s okay not to be okay.

By definition, everyone is on the spectrum. Every human has their struggles, even those at the very top of their game, and having role models like Bess normalise it helps break the stigma that still lingers.

“I always think about it as a heartbeat,” he says. “It has to go up and down. If it doesn’t beat, you’re not alive. If it is flat, you’re dead. Having a shit day is fine: that is going to happen and accepting it is really important.

“If it is a bad day, reflect on why and think tomorrow is a going to be a better day. With my anxiety, if I get into a little bit of a rut, the bad days keep on coming and that’s when it becomes dangerous.

“Having a programme in place is so important for me. It stops me overthinking. To be honest, I always feel a bit lost when it comes to October, when the season is done. Within the bubble I was playing and in a routine, but afterwards I wanted to keep that going. So, it’s about making sure I go away and get a break and then re-focus on the upcoming year and what I’ve got to do. That’s how I go about it.”

No one can change the direction of the wind but they can chose to alter the angle of the sail. And the voyage doesn’t have to be made alone. Indeed, support is invaluable: that’s where the Professional Cricketers Association comes in, providing support to players past and present in a range of guises.

“Invaluable. Absolute gold dust,” says Bess, who benefitted from the organisation’s support during some of his darker days. “The big thing I’ve got to stress is that you never know when you’re going to need it or what’s going to happen. Whether a little thing or the biggest thing they will always be there.

“What they do for every PCA member is so key. It doesn’t matter how big or small you are in terms of cricket, you’re still somebody. They take care of the person not the cricketer.”

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With the night’s drawing in and temperatures plummeting, the winter is set to be a long one. But England fans can draw a little warmth from memorable series wins over both West Indies and Pakistan.

That the action was thrilling was a bonus, given the work that went into staging the international summer. There were magic moments aplenty; Crawley’s coming of age 267; Stuart Broad, left out of the first Test of the summer, bouncing back to collect his 500th wicket; and then there was James Anderson, who went where no quick has gone before.

If ever there was a moment deserving of a standing ovation, a 600th Test wicket was it. The reality couldn’t have been more different.

“It was pretty dark and a really strange situation,” recalls Bess. “It was a dead rubber and there was no crowd.  To me it felt like a club game with the atmosphere. And then that split second where he takes a wicket, you think: ‘Oh my god he’s just taken 600 Test wickets.’ To think I’m on 19 and find it so hard to take wickets, and he’s got 600 of them. What an achievement.”

For all the individual accolades and milestones, England’s recent success is built on a team first ethos. In Joe Root and Eoin Morgan, they have leaders who emphasise the collective.

“It is massively about mindset; putting yourself into it and wanting to do it,” Bess explains. It’s understanding that within this side, we’ve got a collective aim. Whoever the seamers are, whoever the spinners are, we are thinking about the best way to take 20 wickets. It doesn’t matter who takes them as long as we get them as a unit. That’s something that players have to buy into.

“We win together and work for each other. For a young player looking up to likes of Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Jos Buttler – you see what it’s all about and only want to work harder. Those guys put in time and effort with all the youngsters. They make you feel part of the side. It’s so positive and a great dynamic.”

^{Bess has had to learn on the job since coming into England's side, having played 16 first-class games ahead of his international debut}

Sometimes the team-first approach can lead the individual down a new path, and Bess has found himself having to adapt.

With the Taunton pitches notably offering plenty of turn in recent years, he has become used to attacking tentative pokes and prods.

The step-up to international cricket, though, comes with less assistance on offer from the surface, on home soil at least.

“I haven’t had to play the holding role much so I’m certainly learning it,” he says. “That’s something I’ve really bought into. I was speaking to Mo Bobat the other day and saying that I really enjoy doing the dirty work for the seamers.

“I’m learning what I need to do at a certain point in the game. It’s about reframing things: it’s not always about taking wickets but about making yourself as dangerous as you can be. Sometimes it’s controlling the rate and doing the donkey work and then when it does start spinning I can go into what I’ve learned for Somerset.”

Speaking to Bess, it’s easy to forget how young he is. Wise beyond his years, his appetite to improve is insatiable. People notice those things.

However, experience only comes with time, and Bess is learning his trade in the unforgiving waters of international cricket. No place for armbands. Treading water is only possible for a short while.

Of his 47 first-class outings, 10 have been Test matches, and only 30 have come in competitive domestic cricket: the equivalent to two full seasons.

By comparison Graeme Swann, England’s finest off-spinner for many a year, had 171 red-ball games under his belt before his Test bow.

Bess’ was his 17th appearance, but he thrives on the challenge and tries block out anything but internal feedback.

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“It is challenging but I see it as an amazing growth opportunity,” he explains. “If I’m not going to get any better, I won’t be around for long so actually it’s a really good learning curve. I’m a bit of a perfectionist but I’ve got to be realistic; I’m 23, have played 40-odd games of first-class cricket and I’m learning to bowl off-spin against some of the best players in the world.

“There will be bad days and it will be blown up because it’s international cricket. That’s part and parcel of it. Being a young spinner, just in the side, you can be quite anxious with where you are, and with the media and how they portray things. You don’t listen to what’s outside though, you listen to what’s within. You’ve got to trust what comes from above.”

It’s too early to guess how next summer will shape up but one thing is for certain; Bess will be an honorary Yorkshireman, having decided against renewing his contract at Somerset.

There was no fallout. Quite the opposite: the bonds formed at Taunton are watertight and he didn’t particularly want to go.

But England’s No.1 spinner needs game time, and inescapably he was behind Leach in the club’s red-ball pecking order.

Rather than featuring in the last two Bob Willis Trophy games, Bess spent his time merrily shuttling on the drinks and sanitiser. A loan move was mooted but that was never really on the cards.

“Once I knew that I was going to move, my number one thing was leaving on a really good note and making sure that the club knew I was a Somerset player until the end of this summer,” he adds. “That’s why I didn’t go on loan and sat there and did 12th man for the rest of season. I could have gone away or said: ‘No, I don’t want to do this,’ but my best mates are at Somerset and I wanted to cherish those moments as much as I could.”

Of particular note is his friendship with skipper Tom Abell. Despite having to navigate difficult selection decisions over the last couple of years, they remain inseparable.

^{The off-spinner played a key role in England's win in South Africa}

“Abes is my best mate,” Bess says. “It’s a fascinating relationship because I was in and out of the side and he is captain. But we said on day one that we’ve got to take away the cricket side of it and make sure the relationship – our friendship – never changes no matter what. That’s something I’m really proud that we’ve both done and stuck by. It’s made us even closer.

“At the end of the day it’s a business, a team and if I’m not in the best eleven, so be it. After the Bob Willis final, Abes couldn’t even spit out a few words to say thank you because he was in tears – that meant a lot.”

Bess won’t be Leeds fresher, having enjoyed a loan stint in 2019. The off-spinner made four County Championship appearances, chipping in with both runs and wickets.  It also allowed him a taste of T20 action, with six of his nine career outings to date coming in for Yorkshire. It was a two-way audition that led to him getting the lead role.

“It was an amazing time to understand what a big club Yorkshire is, and what it’s like to play at a Test ground. Like Somerset, they have a massive supporters network and I loved my time there. Clubs like that are very special and that loan got me the opportunity.

“That probably was a reason they’ve come in and signed me. Not only did I know and understand the surroundings but they know my traits, my character and how I want to go about things. I’ve done well and they’ve thought: ‘Well actually I can see this bloke being around for a while,’ so they’ve taken a punt on me.”

All other things being equal, 2021 will see Bess twirling away at Headingley and Leach doing his thing at Taunton. The pair have often found themselves vying for one spot, whether it be for Somerset or for England.

Naturally that’s brough difficult moments but Bess believes their experience bowling in tandem could bear fruit further down the line.  

“At times we’ve really struggled, both of us have, but we’ve learned from that. We’ve got where we are competing against each other day-in day-out. When I go to Yorkshire, hopefully I’ll be first choice spinner for the summer and Leachy will be first choice at Somerset – that will make it interesting.

“I know when we go to England camps we’ll be fighting for that spot if there is only one spinner. And if there are two spinners, and we’re away in the subcontinent, how well we work together is a real strength. There’s a reason why we’ve taken a lot of wickets together for two or three years.”

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