GALLE, Tuesday: England’s first day hero Ben Foakes who scored an unbeaten 87 not out on the first day of the first Test at the Galle International Stadium said that the experience of his short stint with Colombo Colts CC and a tour of Sri Lanka with the England Lions side helped him to counter the heat and the Lankan spinners.
“Coming out here a few times, you get good experience. On the Lions tour it was really good. Also I played for Colts for a while, where (Dilruwan) Perera and Akila Dananjaya play I got to learn a little bit about them which was fantastic,” said Foakes at the end of the day.
“It definitely (helped me). Also, the thing you can’t really prepare for is the heat, unless you’ve done it. I think playing in this sort of heat a few times really helped.”
Foakes’ solid innings helped England to recover from 103-5 to a healthy 321-8 by the close and with some luck he may be able to score a hundred on his Test debut.
Batting with him is England’s no. 10 Jack Leach on 14 with James Anderson to come.
Foakes who plays for the same county Surrey as Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara did till 2017, said that it was only yesterday (Monday) that he found out during training that he was going to play in the first Test.
“When Rooty (Joe Root) came to me and said that I was playing, I was quite shocked to be fair. I didn't think I'd be playing. I was a little surprised and it was a proud moment,” said Foakes.
“On debut sometimes you don't even know what's on the scoreboard, I was a bit nervous and in my own head. I was just thinking ‘grind in’ and when I got off the mark obviously that settled me down a bit,” he said.
Assessing the Galle pitch, Foakes said, “When I first went in, I found it quite tough. It was sticking in and quite tacky so you didn’t really feel like you could play your shots too well. It dried out a bit throughout the day so you got a little bit more value. You could play strong shots. The new ball was quite tricky.”
Foakes said that he was holidaying in Lisbon when he heard from the England chairman of selectors Ed Smith.
“I just got back from a lads’ trip to Lisbon...good preparation! I'd had a few days out there when Ed gave me a ring. I'd heard about Jonny's ankle but I still wasn't sure if I'd be coming out, it took me by surprise,” said Foakes.
“I think it's been quite a few years of Lions stuff, that month just getting away was good. It's been a long time without any break. That month was beautiful, just in my head not thinking I had cricket round the corner, so I could arrive here fresh.”
Foakes was a late inclusion in the England Test squad after Jonny Bairstow was ruled out of the ongoing Test series having twisted his ankle playing a game of football.
Sri Lankan spinner Dilruwan Perera said that Foakes had a good plan against spin having played in these conditions before.
“Ben played in 2012 a few limited over games for Colts. But after that he has toured here with England Lions and he has a fair idea on what to expect and he had a good plan against spin,” said Perera who was Sri Lanka’s most successful bowler finishing the day with four wickets for 70.
Perera who is familiar with the Galle pitch having on two occasions taken match bags of ten wickets in Tests said that this was not the usual Galle pitch they are familiar with.
“The wicket was covered for two days and I think that took away the usual advantage we have here."
"The wicket spun but once the ball got older, the wicket started to be slow,” said Perera. “The wicket I don’t think will deteriorate too much. It is a bit slow and hopefully that will help us. We were playing one seamer and we wanted to bat first.
But the toss you cannot depend on too much.”
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