Foakes sets himself up to make Test spot his own

Joe Root walked off the field, bat raised, taking the acclaim of the Lord's crowd following his majestic, match-winning hundred.

It was a special moment for Root given what had gone before and he would go on to talk of the "unhealthy effect" the captaincy - relinquished a little under two months ago - ended up having on his personal life.

A short distance back, letting his former skipper take his bow alone was Ben Foakes: the junior partner in the unbroken 120-run sixth wicket stand that had helped secure victory over New Zealand in a fabulous first Test.

The records will show that Foakes contributed 32 runs from 92 balls to the partnership, compared to a run-a-ball 81 from Root. More importantly, they will show that he was there at the end.

The Surrey wicketkeeper came in with England still firmly up against it, more than 100 runs from victory with five wickets remaining and only the bowlers left to come. The fact they got across the line so comfortably in the end is down to Root's brilliance, yes, but also to the efforts of Foakes.

This is a big summer for Foakes. It is coming up to five years since he was named as part of England's touring party for the 17/18 Ashes. A year later he scored a century on debut in Sri Lanka, but he has never truly been given the chance to establish himself as first choice wicketkeeper in the Test side.

In fact, the match at Lord's was his first home Test, with the previous 11 all coming overseas.

Foakes' credentials as a pure gloveman have never been in doubt. His director of cricket at Surrey, Alec Stewart, a former England wicketkeeper himself, has repeatedly stated his belief that the 29-year-old is the best in the world behind the stumps.

With the bat though, he was seen as the third