16 January 2023 , 09:22
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After England's embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Australia in the Ashes last winter, Josh Bohannon appeared to be on the verge of a call-up after scoring 853 runs at an average of 53.31 while batting at number three for Lancashire.
However, then captain Joe Root decided to step up to number three and Bohannon did not receive the call. And when Ben Stokes replaced Root as skipper in April, Ollie Pope was given a chance at number three that he has taken with both hands, scoring 690 runs at 43.12.
Meanwhile, Bohannon has continued to score runs for Lancashire, plundering 805 at 40.25 last year and the 25-year-old is hoping to further his case for an England call-up when he features for the Lions against Sri Lanka A later this month.
And despite his reputation as a more traditional red-ball batter, Bohannon has now been part of three of the last four Lions squads and he is confident his style of play will fit the new 'Bazball' approach England have adopted under Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
"I don't feel like I have to change my game in any way," he told ESPNcricinfo. "Sometimes I think people are reading into the management a little bit different. It's not just about going out there and smacking it every single ball. It's about picking balls, picking bowlers, almost like you would do in T20, when certain people have better match-ups.
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"You have to recognise periods of the game where you've got to soak it up, or when you've still got five wickets left and the challenge is to get a certain amount in a session to make sure that we bowl for a period of time.
"So I don't think it's about changing the game, it's just about working on that mindset and when, hopefully, I get into that set-up, it becomes a second nature."
Bohannon is also taking inspiration from Joe Root (Visionhaus/Getty Images)And Bohannon is taking inspiration from Root when it comes to his own career, adding: "For me, the pinnacle is still Test cricket. I hope my white-ball game can kick on in the next couple of years, because people are getting paid a hell of a lot of money to play in these competitions, and everyone wants that in their life.
"But I look at someone like Joe Root. His sole focus for a period of time has been on Test cricket, and now he's looking to extend his white-ball cricket as he moves towards the end of his career, I guess.
"So that's the way that I hopefully see my own career going. I want to play as much Test cricket as possible. And while I'm doing that, obviously develop my white-ball game so that hopefully I can be part of these competitions in the long run."