Ben Stokes, England’s Test captain, has dubbed teammate Ben Foakes the best wicketkeeper in the world right now. The 29-year-old has beaten out Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler to become their Test team’s first-choice wicketkeeper.
The London-born cricketer was instrumental in England’s five-wicket victory over New Zealand at Lord’s recently. While chasing a target of 277, he remained unbeaten on 32. Foakes claimed four catches in the second innings, proving to be the ideal partner for Root at the other end.
Ben Stokes on Ben Foakes
Foakes’ continued presence at the crease was critical in the opening session of Day 4 of the Test, as England had lost five wickets on Day 3 but were still only a few runs away from victory. With New Zealand also believing they can win, the wicketkeeper-batsman teamed up with a brilliant Joe Root (115 not out) to help England win by 32 runs.
“We’re not in the position to not select world-class players at the moment. Ben (Foakes) is the best wicketkeeper in the world. That’s not just my own opinion, that’s a lot of people’s opinions. Batting at seven, which he does for England, is different from the role that he plays for Surrey because he bats higher up,” Ben Stokes said.
“But that situation of going in last night, for 45 minutes, was a very, very big part of the game, and he handled it very, very well. The way he kept — he took some catches which he made look very easy but they weren’t. To have a gloveman like Ben (Foakes) behind the stumps gives me a lot of confidence, and it gives the bowlers a lot of confidence, knowing that nine times out of 10, he’s going to take everything that comes to him,” Stokes added.
The 29-year-old wicketkeeper has appeared in 12 Test matches and scored 545 runs, including one century. Meanwhile, England will play New Zealand in the second Test match, which will begin on June 10 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham (Friday).
