Who is England’s James Bracey?
A freak injury to Ben Foakes has opened the doors for James Bracey, who is about to make his England Test debut with the opening game of the forthcoming two-match Test series at Lord’s, beginning June 2.
Bracey was brought into the England squad as an understudy to Foakes last week, but is now set to wear the traditional whites for his country above the senior Sussex gloveman.
Foakes slipped inside the dressing room at the Oval with his socks on during his team’s County Championship fixture against Middlesex and was subsequently ruled out of the New Zealand Test series.
James Bracey has the chance to impress the selectors against the Kiwis and strengthen his case as a back-up gloveman, with Jos Buttler, who has been rested for the series against the Black Caps, expected to return for the Indian leg of the Test summer.
James Bracey | Twitter/Wisden
James Bracey, the 24-year-old Gloucestershire wicketkeeper-batsman, has got in the reckoning through his defiant batsmanship and safe and sound gloveman. The left-hand batter is generally deployed at No.3 for Gloucestershire and has been in good form in the ongoing first-class season.
Who is England’s James Bracey?
Bracey has made 479 runs at an average of 47.90 from his 11 innings in the Championship so far. James Bracey is placed at the top of the run-charts for Gloucestershire this summer. His season aggregate is better than his overall first-class career average of 36 after 45 matches, a commendable effort in the bowler-friendly first half of the English summer that shows his rapid improvement.
Despite a breakthrough season, however, James Bracey was quite honest in his admission when he spoke to the Standard Sport and said it is the COVID-19 pandemic that has “accelerated my path to international recognition” as England have travelled with extended squads.
“I did well on the Lions [in Australia last year], but I still think I was a big season away from knocking the door down,” he said on Thursday (May 27). “Due to covid and how cricket has changed I have been exposed to it earlier than some might have thought.”
“I have made a conscious effort to make the most of it because you never know how long it will last. It’s been accelerated, but I’ve managed to find my way from 55 to 15, and hopefully now down to 11.”
Bracey said he feels “gutted” for Foakes, an excellent gloveman, whom he set as a benchmark to follow when he first entered the England bubble last summer. He added he has followed Foakes’ footsteps and has improved rapidly along the way.
Considered a promising batsman ever since first seen at the first-class level, James Bracey has also “gone to a different level” in the last couple of seasons with his keeping. “I can justify my place in a side as a keeper now, not just a batter who is a keeper here and there,” he said. England will hope Bracey has a seamless transition to the Test match game and bolster their depth in the wicketkeeping department.