Six months ago if Alex Lees had pictured himself playing for England this winter, it would not have been on a Lions tour of Sri Lanka. Promoted to the Test side for the trip to West Indies last March he opened the batting throughout the summer, ears ringing with the praise of his captain and boosted by Brendon McCullum’s insistence that he would “be really consistent with selections and keep giving guys opportunities”. But though his run of games brought two half-centuries there were also seven single-digit scores, and when the call came before the recent Test tour of Pakistan, it was to inform him that he was out. He describes his last year as “a little bit bittersweet”, and that moment was very much the bitter.
“I think it’s human nature. If anybody has some news they’re not particularly happy with, in sport or life, there’s a natural distaste in your mouth,” the Durham batter says. “I’m sure I wasn’t amazing to be around for a couple of weeks. But those kind of things ground you and give you a good perspective on life. And what can you do? It’s happened and you can’t affect it. You’ve got to get your head down and move forward.
