Who is Ben Foakes?

It’s fast becoming tradition. Part-way through a long away Test series, with England on the ropes but theoretically still in it, they scour the options for anyone new who can shed one ray of hope on an otherwise bleak landscape. It’s not ideal, but it’s a strategy that has seemed to work recently, at least for the individuals involved. Keaton Jennings made an assured hundred on debut after Haseeb Hameed broke a finger in India, and before him Ben Stokes stood up to Mitchell Johnson and smoked a hundred on a cracked WACA pitch. Now, 2-0 down and the urn fading into the distance, England’s thoughts will surely turn once again to team composition.

Scanning the faces for an injection of energy, there is one that sticks out above all else, and not just because he’s unusually handsome. Ben Foakes is the only member of the squad not to have played international cricket in some format, and yet, in a squad rife with punts, his was a selection that drew no criticism from any corner; it’s a call-up that’s been a long time coming. Not that the man himself was taking anything for granted.

It was a decision that had benefits beyond allowing Foakes to improve with the gloves. “I think leaving made me grow up a little bit,” he says. “From a young age I was always in some sort of programme and I was always the young guy at the team, and at your home county you can get away with not doing amazingly but get picked because you’re the home-grown player. Not that I wasn’t trying to do better, but I learned a lot about myself and about my game coming into a new environment, where got to do well as there no loyalty just because you’ve come through the system. You have to put in performances or else you’re gone.”

As mild-mannered, polite, and open as Foakes is to talk to, it’s also a decision that reveals a hidden ambition and steel. No longer just the golden boy, with bat and with gloves and most importantly mentally, he’s a Test cricketer in waiting. His time is now.