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England spinner Dom Bess exceeding all expectations as he takes five wickets in third Test

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Getty Images

Heading in to this match at Port Elizabeth, the feeling among the England brain’s trust was that, while he had produced spunky all-round performances in his three Test matches to date and is developing fast, Dom Bess was some way off being a frontline Test spinner.

At 22, what he needs, they feel, is a season or three as a frontline spinner in the County Championship, learning his craft in conditions both helpful and unhelpful. As Jack Leach’s understudy at Somerset, such chances have been rare, and it has been a rocky road between his two spells in the Test side. Some have wondered whether he might need to move counties to get that extended go. He has already been on loan to Yorkshire in a first-class career just 40 matches old.

Even after Bess’s accomplished showing at Cape Town, England planned to bring back Leach for Port Elizabeth, were he well enough. Last year, before illness struck, Leach was just beginning to make the England spinner’s berth his own.

But Leach has gone home, still unfit after being unwell. And Moeen Ali is in Test exile, at home resting and mentoring young English spinners. Strangely, were it not for Leach’s illness, Bess would have been one of those spinners. So England selected Bess again, in the hope he could match his performance at Cape Town, and build confidence for the tour of Sri Lanka, where he would be thrust into a more central role, ahead of his time. Five seamers was a possibility for the final Test in Johannesburg.

England got far more than they expected. South Africa had played Bess strangely at Cape Town, and they did so again here. There, he bowled full, and they patted him back, with two of their only attacking shots resulting in wickets.

Here, Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen looked to get after him, then tamely gifted him their wickets. Du Plessis, with Bess having moved over the wicket, plopped to slip off bat and pad. Van der Dussen tried to cut a ball too close and too full.

Before that, Dean Elgar joined Zubayr Hamza in becoming a second victim to whom Bess owed Mark Wood an assist. Wood hit Elgar on the hand, and he inside-edged to short-leg in the following over. Pope took three fine catches under the lid.

Suddenly, Bess had picked off South Africa’s top five – in a hurry. He was the first English spinner to take the first five wickets in an innings since Derek Underwood at Adelaide in 1975. Underwood, the man they called Deadly, is one of just two England spinners younger than Bess to have taken a Test five-fer, with Pat Pocock the other.

Exclusive club: Dom Bess dismissed South Africa's top five (Getty Images)
Exclusive club: Dom Bess dismissed South Africa's top five (Getty Images)

Bess did not just create the five chances that were taken. At slip, Joe Root dropped a simple chance off Anrich Nortje, a brave nightwatchman for the second time in the series, while the ball squirted fast past Pope a couple of times too.

Perhaps Bess is developing even quicker than England’s coaches realise, right under their nose. There is no big bag of tricks, but bad balls are few and far between.

He is certainly having an interesting winter, after he took some time off in agreement with Somerset and England, then headed to Mumbai on an ECB camp, to work with the great Sri Lankan Rangana Herath, whose own lack of mystery actually made him the perfect advisor to Bess. When he was called to South Africa as sickness cover, England found a much improved cricketer.

The speed with which Bess had got to work – reducing South Africa to 109 for five after 42 overs – meant that, when the forecast rain arrived a few minutes later, they were in a terrific position.

The drizzle kept the teams off for close to four hours and, when they returned, England met resistance – particularly from Nortje. While he blocked, Quinton de Kock counter-attacked to good effect, cutting and driving with his usual fizz. With the ball wet, and the pitch flat, it was a trying time for England.

Like Nortje, De Kock was dropped at slip off the spinner – the small matter of three times. Ben Stokes was the guilty party all three times. On 30, 56 and 63, they were all tough but takeable – especially for a fielder like Stokes. Twice Root was the unfortunate bowler, with Joe Denly’s speculative penultimate over of the day bringing the third chance.

Stokes was only invited to bowl after 60 overs and, in his second, Nortje edged to slip. That was England’s only success of a 39-over session, a reminder that this is a flat pitch that will be tough to force a result on, especially with more rain forecast and the profligacy of their catching. They have a new ball due in the morning, and must make it count. Then, it is over to Bess.

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