England all-rounder Dom Bess made headlines across the cricketing world when he got rid of India captain Virat Kohli on Day 3 of the first Test at Chennai. The 23-year old is still not the finished product as a player but possesses a keenness to get better and the character to take on any challenge, meaning there was plenty expected from him in what is a big tour for England. Yet he showed why he is so highly rated as he also got rid of Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rishabh Pant in the first innings. The fact that he shone brightest on such a big stage would have come as a surprise to many, but not to a former Australia international.
Fast bowler Shaun Tait, who has the record of bowling the second-fastest ball of all time, had once picked out Bess as someone who would play for England.
What’s even more amazing is that Tait made this prediction when Bess was still an 18-year old cutting his teeth at the Darren Lehmann Cricket Academy (DLCA) in Adelaide.
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“We were in Sydney with Tait being part of our side. And Tait picked Bessy as the one who would go on to play international cricket,” Shaun Siegert, who was high-performance coach at the DLCA, told The New Indian Express.
“And mind you Bess did not even pick a wicket in those games. This lad was nobody back then, but the thing that was most impressive about him was his character as an individual.”
Siegert further added that Bess showcased a hunger and desire to keep getting better and that the time he spent at the DLCA helped mature him as a person.
“I pay a lot of attention to a cricketer’s character and Bess is easily amongst those who had the hunger and desire to keep going higher. He is the sort of guy who doesn’t wait for things to happen and that character reflects on his cricket too. He is constantly looking for answers to get better,” Siegert said.
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“And If you ask Bess what was his biggest take away from the camp here, he would say the maturity of him as a person. I remember it was around this time of the year. He looked down and out, tired. But how he dealt with it and continued the rest of the program was incredible. Lot of them would have given up. But he just kept working.”
Siegert also said that it wouldn’t surprise him to see Bess evolve his game the way Australia spinner Nathan Lyon did.
“I won’t be surprised if he evolves like Nathan Lyon. He will struggle at times, but he will find ways to improve as a cricketer and he is showing up until this point. He doesn’t get overawed by situations and circumstances.”
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