Ben Foakes will not lose sleep over whether he features in England’s Test plans for this summer.
The Surrey wicketkeeper was back in the England XI for the winter tour of India and once again impressed with his skills behind the stumps, but failed to register a fifty in 10 innings during the 4-1 loss.
Foakes has been in and out of the team since his 2018 Test debut and missed last year’s Ashes after Jonny Bairstow was given keeping duties.
The wicketkeeper berth is seemingly up for grabs ahead of home series with the West Indies and Sri Lanka this summer, but Foakes, who scored 205 runs at an average of 20.5 in India, is relaxed about his position.
“I haven’t been told anything,” Foakes said.
“Obviously the more years I’ve got into my career, the more I’ve been in and out, I’ve almost come to an acceptance that it has been the case and not try to worry about it or stress too much about getting a long run or external stuff.
“India, first and foremost, I took as just trying to really enjoy it. I think the more times you get dropped, the more times you realise you don’t know how long you’ve got left or whatever it might be.
“So while you’re out there, rather than stress too much about the game or this might be my last chance, just enjoy the fact you are playing and you don’t know how long for essentially.”
The series started with a high for Foakes, who shared a crucial 112-run partnership with Ollie Pope in England’s remarkable first Test win in Hyderabad.
A number of other starts with the bat were made by the 31-year-old, but he often batted with the tail and expressed his disappointment after failing to “kick on” during his 47 in Ranchi.
Foakes added: “I felt like I kept pretty well, keeping felt good. To start off, I didn’t feel amazing with the bat and then, yeah, disappointed in a couple of innings that I didn’t kick on.
“Again, that role of batting lower down, batting with the tail, the more I do it, the more I look at it as how many times can I impact?
“Because some series you might not get an opportunity to go big, big for example, so it is very crucial when you do get a chance to try and really kick on, which I was disappointed in the fourth Test where I could have kicked on and didn’t.
“(I’m) still evolving and trying to learn with the tail and how to manage those sort of situations.”
While Foakes bats at seven for England, he has gained the majority of his success for Surrey as one of their top-five batters, which has contributed towards a first-class average of 38.52.
Foakes will aim to be back in the runs next week when Surrey begin their Vitality County Championship title defence with a trip to Lancashire, but he acknowledged the uncertainty over his England place provides one dilemma.
“Every summer in the past, I’ve not known whether I will play so I’ve played every (Surrey) game,” Foakes said.
“I did look at the Test schedule and there would be the chance to play 28 Tests and Champo (games) if I did play from the start of India until the end of New Zealand, obviously depending on selection.
“If that was the case and I did play, that is quite a lot of cricket so there would be potential to have a rest, but again it depends on what they’re looking at. Whether I am likely to play or not and then reassess.”
Head century helps Australia thrash England in first ODI
Travis Head's brilliant unbeaten 154 steered Australia to a dominant seven-wicket victory over England in the first one-day international at Trent Bridge.
The hosts collapsed at the end of their innings, and Head's sensational tally ensured it did not take long for Australia to reach their target, with 36 balls to spare.
Phil Salt (17) may have walked early, but England started well overall, with fellow opener Ben Duckett (95) and Will Jacks (62) pushing them forward.
However, Marnus Labuschagne (3-39) removed Duckett and then Harry Brook, captaining England for the first time, as their slide began.
Jacob Bethell took them over 300 with his 35, but Adam Zampa also took three wickets in his 100th ODI (3-49) as England finished all out for 315.
Head had a nervous moment with just six runs to his name as Brydon Carse dropped what would have been a spectacular one-handed catch, but he did not look back after that.
His knock included 20 fours and five sixes as he brought up his sixth ODI century, and with the help of Labushagne (77), he got the tourists over the line with ease.
Australia have a 1-0 lead in the series, with the next match taking place at Headingley on Saturday.
Data Debrief: England fail to end Australia dominance
England had put themselves in a great position to end Australia's 13-match winning streak in ODIs, but ultimately struggled to defend their target.
That was mainly down to Head's superb performance. Ricky Ponting was the player with the highest score for Australia in ODIs at Trent Bridge with 126 before his impressive knock.
It was also the tourists' highest successful ODI chase in England.
Latham and Williamson lead charge as New Zealand close gap on Sri Lanka
Tom Latham and Kane Williamson led the way as New Zealand moved to within just 50 runs of Sri Lanka on day two of the first Test in Galle.
Latham opened with 70 while Williamson notched 55 on the way to taking the Black Caps to 255-4 at stumps.
Sri Lanka resumed the first Test at 302-7, though just 15 minutes of play were possible during a rain-curtailed morning session. Nevertheless, it was long enough for New Zealand to bowl out their opponents for the loss of just three runs.
Latham led the Black Caps' revival with 70 from 111 balls, as Williamson also passed the half-century mark with his knock of 55 off 104 deliveries.
Dhananjaya de Silva looked to restore Sri Lanka's authority over proceedings when he dismissed Williamson and Rachin Ravindra in the space of two overs.
However, Daryl Mitchell and Tom Blundell steadied the ship, with their unbeaten stand of 59 off 105 edging New Zealand closer to their opponents' tally.
Data Debrief: Half-century stands galore for resurgent Black Caps
Partnerships were crucial for New Zealand in their chase, with four 50-plus stands during the innings.
Latham and Devon Conway's opening stand of 63 got the ball rolling, while Latham and Williamson notched 73 from just 120 balls.
The Williamson-Ravindra stand of 51 took just 84 deliveries, and it remains to be seen how long Mitchell and Blundell will last when play resumes on Friday.
Ashwin century leads India revival after difficult start against Bangladesh
Ravichandran Ashwin hit an unbeaten century as India recovered from a slow start on day one of their first Test with Bangladesh.
Ashwin made 102, while Ravindra Jadeja ended 86 not out as the hosts finished the day at 339-6 in Chennai.
It looked set to be a difficult day for India, who were 36-3 inside the opening hour with Virat Kohli (six), Rohit Sharma (six) and Shubman Gil (0) all dismissed.
Rishabh Pant hit 39 while Yashasvi Jaiswal had a knock of 56 to steady the hosts at 144-6, before Ashwin and Jadeja took centre-stage.
Together, they put on 195 from 227 balls in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand to swing the momentum firmly in India's favour, with Ashwin reaching hs ton in just 108 balls.
"On a surface like this with a bit of spice, if you're going after the ball, you might as well go after it really hard," he said.
"It's the old Chennai surface with a bit of bounce and carry, and the red soil pitch allows you to play a few shots.
"If you're willing to just get in line and can give the ball a little bit of tonk, it really helps."
Data Debrief: Ton up for Ashwin as hosts break Mahmud's resolve
It looked like Hasan Mahmud would be the star on day one, with the Bangladesh seamer taking an impressive 4-58.
But Ashwin had other ideas on his home ground, with 10 fours and two sixes on the way to notching his sixth Test century, and second in as many Tests in Chennai.
Jadeja matched him with 10 fours and two sixes of his own, and is just 14 runs off claiming his own ton when play resumes on Friday.
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