England Spinner Dom Bess Spoke To Joe Root About His Treatment In India

England spinner Dom Bess says he spoke to both captain Joe Root and head coach Chris Silverwood over how he was managed during the tour of India.

The 23-year-old played in the first Test which England won but, after an indifferent performance in the second innings, was omitted for the second Test with Moeen Ali brought in.

Ali was asked to stay on for the last two Tests but insisted on sticking with a previously agreed plan to return home.

Captain Joe Root took five wickets bowling spin in the third Test.

Bess was then recalled for the innings defeat in the fourth and final Test, ending with disappointing figures of 0-71 in 17 overs.

England's policy of rotating players came in for heavy criticism during the series which they lost 3-1, having beaten Sri Lanka 2-0 in their first stop of the tour.

Former captain Michael Vaughan was one of the most vociferous critics over Bess's treatment opining: "I don't think I've ever been as disappointed with the management of a player".

Bess took 17 wickets across the two Tests in Sri Lanka and the series opener in India.

"I certainly got across how I felt and how, at times, I felt I was managed," said Bess.

"In that first Test and first innings in India, I felt really good. Then it just didn't click for me," said Bess. "Rooty and Spoons (Silverwood) have both said how tough it was to drop me out of that second Test, but I was really disappointed."

 

Bess has taken 36 wickets at an average of 33.97 in his 14-Test career but has fallen behind former Somerset team-mate Jack Leach as first-choice spinner.

Bess is now Root's county team-mate at Yorkshire and says far from being deflated over the fourth Test display he treats it as part of his learning process at the top level.

"I look back at that fourth Test as a great experience -- a really tough learning curve," said Bess who took 0-106 in Yorkshire's opening county championship game against Glamorgan.

"I can only see massive positives from the winter. I perhaps didn't impact games the way I would want to at times, but I did impact upon games for England."

Bess says having spoken with Root and Silverwood he feels he has the support he needs to move on.

"I've spoken to Joe and I understand where I stand with it all," he said.

"I certainly feel backed from these guys, who gave me good feedback in terms of what I need to do," said Bess. "I know Rooty, Spoons, and the whole team back me in terms of the longer process. I have to buy into that."

Bess's target will be to battle back for the seven home Tests this summer. England begin with June's two-Test series against New Zealand before a five-match series with India. They then bid to regain the Ashes in Australia beginning in December.