South Africa vs England: Dom Bess grasps opportunity to complete unorthodox journey to top

Mike Tyson fought because it was the thing he did best growing up as, in his own words, a wild kid running the streets. Andre Agassi played tennis even though he could take or leave it because it was the best way to make a living for his family. And Dom Bess is an off-spinner because he used to be too fat to do anything else.

Not all sports stories are gritty and not all sports stars are a mesh of complicated webs to untangle. As a youngster Bess gorged on ice creams during trips to the Devonshire coast and being able to offer value on the cricket field with a few paces and leisurely turning over his arm suited him just fine.

But that does not mean the journey to where he finds himself now, the third youngest to take a Test five-wicket haul, at 22 years and 180 days, and the first to take the first five wickets in an innings since Derek Underwood against Australia in 1975, has been straightforward or preordained.

The England spinner showed great maturity during his 60 overs of holding graft at Newlands in the second Test, and backed up solid work on the evening of day two to bring South Africa to their knees at 109 for five on Saturday. Without Quinton de Kock and nigthwatchman Anrich Nortje, the Proteas might not have got back to their feet, finishing day three on 208 for six.

Pieter Malan and Zubayr Hamza were pocketed last night and it took 21.3 overs of play for Dean Elgar, Faf du Plessis and Rassie van der Dussen to join them.

Elgar, South Africa’s best hope at batting time, was gone within six balls as Ollie Pope took a sharp low catch for his second off Bess at short leg. A third came Pope's way to remove the South Africa captain, who had taken a couple of trips down the wicket and clattered Bess inside mid on for a couple of fours. Bess then had a rethink, changing to over the wicket and dropping his arm to alter the trajectory. Two balls later came a thick inside edge onto the pad.

The fifth could have been Nortje, who misread a delivery that held its path to his outside edge rather than turned into the middle, as many others had done. Only Joe Root will know how he put down what came his way at first slip.

But it was another neat bit of dragging length back that eventually gave Bess five. All three of van der Dussen’s boundaries had come as the result of trips down the wicket. So the offie went wider without being too wide, and shorter without being too short. An attempted cut brought a chop on and then jubilant scenes. Fittingly, it was close to water, from the Duck Pond End, where Bess stuffed himself.

Unlike Pope’s maiden century yesterday, this does not quite feel outright like the first of many. While one 22 year-old has got to this point through an exceptional first-class record, the other has made it here by taking the opportunities that have risen partly in-spite of it.

For instance, this was only a ninth five-for in 65 first-class innings. In the time since his previous best in Tests – a three for 33 against Pakistan at the stand of June 2018 – he has played just 12 red ball games for his county, Somerset.

A lack of first XI cricket led to three Championship matches for Yorkshire on loan at the start of the 2019 summer as Bess began wondering if he need to be elsewhere. He is as pragmatic as they come and is under no illusions that he is behind Jack Leach in the pecking order for club and country. He even admitted as much in his post-match press conference, jubilant at his but sympathetic to a mate.

But, while you can look at Bess’ first class career and perhaps come to the conclusion he has enjoyed a bit of luck, you would be wrong to think just because six of his eight five-wicket hauls have come at Taunton that he has not taken his opportunities elsewhere.

It goes beyond this tour, which he joined as sickness cover a few days before the first Test but worked himself into contention not just to move ahead of leg spinner Matt Parkinson - an original member of the touring party - but command a spot in the second and this third Test.

It even goes beyond the spin camp in Mumbai he attended last month where he worked with Sri Lankan finger spinner Rangana Herath to hone subtlety. Or in August where those involved with the ECB’s performance pathway met with Bess and his Somerset head coach Jason Kerr to plan his development, with the player himself driving a lot of the conversation.

Two years ago, a collection of Lions players were put through mock interviews in front of a three-man panel of director of cricket Andrew Strauss and selectors Angus Fraser and Mick Newell. The point of the exercise was for each individual to put their case forward for the 2019 World Cup. Bess, though, used the meeting to talk about things further afield, like the Test series and Twenty20 World Cup in India, where he felt he’d have the best chance to make an impact.

Many more moons ago, though, this chubby kid from Exeter realised his best chance of making it outright was to sort himself out. And the fruits of that labour now have tangible rewards. He is now a well-rounded cricketer in absolutely the right way.

He improved his batting to an extent that he could hold his own in the top seven, hence the 57 against Pakistan on debut, even if he did return a pair in the previous match and one in the first innings here.

He began to take fielding more seriously, which is why England are happy to put him at key positions like point, even if he did let through a hard pull from Vernon Philander off Ben Stokes down at fine leg later in the day.

And he was able to bowl 11.2 overs straight in the morning, and 24 in the day - somehow conceding just seven boundaries. The opportunity to do a Laker and pick up all 10 was taken from him when Nortje was finally caught by Root for 18 from 136 balls off the bowling from Ben Stokes for the sixth dismissal.

But the drops still came, somehow all from Stokes now. De Kock was the beneficiary: twice off Root, on 30 and 56, and one off Joe Denly on 63. The wicketkeeper batsman’s 20th fifty, this one from 94 balls, couple with Philander’s classy 27 from 55 leaves England in something of a pickle.

The deficit may well be 291 and a follow-on still on the cards. But the session’s worth of overs lost today and with more rain to come on day four and five, the window for victory seems narrow.

To take a 2-1 leave, they must do as Bess has done and take every little sliver of opportunity.