Jacob Bethell. England’s Star Boy
For all the rancour and recriminations that lie ahead after another desperate series in Australia, England will always be able to cling to the memory of Jacob Bethell at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
It will be the memory of a maiden Test century of the highest class crafted amid the wreckage of yet another self-destructive English batting performance.
And it will be the memory of the day a Test star was born right at the death of a blighted Ashes mission that will surely end on the last day with another Australian victory.
What a performance this was from Bethell, and what a contrast to so many of his team-mates who were unable to replicate the maturity and assurance of a 22-year-old Barbados-born batter who, until now, had never reached three figures in a first-class match.
It should not be enough to save England from the 4-1 defeat that would be a fair reflection of Australia’s dominance of this underwhelming and error-prone Ashes. But it provides hope. England have found, almost more by luck than judgment, a No 3 who should be the cornerstone of their Test batting for years to come.
The SCG rises for Jacob Bethell as he leaves the pitch at the end of day fourGareth Copley/Getty Images
Bethell was sublime in making an unbeaten 142 on the fourth day of the final Test as England reached 302-8 in their second innings, leaving them 119 ahead and still just about in with a chance.
This was everything a Test innings should be, the composed and classy stroke-making belying Bethell’s inexperience and putting those who imploded around him to shame. Not least Will Jacks, who fell to a pathetically ill-judged shot off just his second ball that rivals even Jamie Smith’s first innings demise here as the most shocking English dismissal of the series.
And Harry Brook, as gifted as any batter in the world, who was again skittish and threatened to throw away his wicket before falling slightly unfortunately to a reviewed leg before off the occasional off-spin of Beau Webster. The ball jagged back sharply and hit him on the back leg, but was shown to just be hitting the bails.
That should not take anything away from the achievement of Bethell who was thrust into the fray in the first over of England’s second innings when Zak Crawley fell lbw without playing a shot — Mitchell Starc striking at the start of an innings yet again.
The Ashes Briefing: Bethell offers taster of a bright England future to delay Australia’s victory charge
The tourists lead by 119 runs going into the final day with only two wickets in hand, but their new No 3 is still there on 142 not out
At that stage, facing a first innings deficit of 183, England could easily have folded within four days and replicated so many Sydney humiliations of recent Ashes past.
Not a bit of it. Not when Bethell batted the way England should have done from the very start of this Ashes — positively and at a decent tempo, but far from recklessly.
He suffered a nasty blow on the side of his helmet from a Cameron Green bouncer but, far from being shaken, Bethell settled in, his resolve stiffened yet further. There was to be no wilting, even with the ball occasionally leaping off the cracks on a length. He was patient, his calm temperament maintained.
A bouncer from Cameron Green strikes Jacob Bethell on the helmet as he takes evasive actionAyush Kumar/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
“A big contributor to that was I was very small growing up,” he told the BBC’s Test Match Special at the close of play. “I was only really able to hit fours and sixes when I was 15 or 16, so I developed that ability to bat long periods of time when I was younger. That’s instilled in me now.”
His back-foot play was honed on quick, bouncy pitches in Barbados in his youth, where he “got a lot of chin music”. He played top quality cuts, pulls and drives at the SCG, and eschewed risk, not least when he spent 24 balls in the 90s before launching Webster high for four.
That brought him the hundred that had eluded him in all professional cricket until he made a white-ball 110 for England against South Africa at Southampton in September.
And it sparked emotional scenes in the Sydney stands where Bethell’s father, Graham, tried in vain to hold back tears as he celebrated his son’s achievement with his family.
Jacob Bethell lifts a Beau Webster delivery over midwicket for four to reach his centuryDavid Gray/AFP via Getty Images
Yet even this considerable consolation for England comes with the caveat of them mis-managing this rare talent and introducing him far too late in this series, after three defeats and with the urn already gone, to make any tangible difference.
England initially deserved credit for spotting the Test potential in Bethell and throwing him in at No 3 against New Zealand last winter when Smith was on paternity leave and Ollie Pope moved down the order to keep wicket.
The new man looked every inch a Test batter, particularly when making 96 in Wellington, and should have retained his place at the start of last summer to play the whole series against India and then be ready for the biggest battle of them all against Australia.
But the complication came with Bethell having an Indian Premier League (IPL) contract with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Both he and England were reluctant to bring him home early to play the first Test of last summer, a standalone game against Zimbabwe, even though he was mainly sitting on the RCB bench.
Jacob Bethell on a relatively rare outing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru last MayPankaj Nangia/Getty Images
The argument was that Bethell is just as important to England’s white-ball cricket as the Test match game, and he would benefit just by being in the IPL environment and learning from the likes of team-mate Virat Kohli.
But Bethell’s absence allowed Pope to return at No 3 and make easy runs against a Zimbabwe side barely up to county standard. He followed that up with a century against India in the first Test, and, despite that form tailing off thereafter, England then left him there all summer and for the start of this Ashes.
By the time Bethell finally played Test cricket again in the fifth game against India at the Oval, replacing the injured Ben Stokes, he was rusty and out of form, having barely played all summer. He looked it, too, making only six and five.
Bethell is not blameless. He turned down the chance to play for his adopted county side, Warwickshire, last summer during his long period of inactivity, preferring to spend time with family who had come over from their home in Barbados, but England are culpable in allowing him to play far too little cricket.
They showed how highly they rated Bethell by making him captain for a T20 series in Ireland at the end of the summer, but all too often, they had overly protected him.
He was eventually brought in against Australia for the fourth Test in Melbourne after Pope had played one poor shot too many, but by then the Ashes were gone.
Now, in a case of what might have been for England, Bethell has already faced more balls in this single innings than Ben Duckett has received through 10 outings across the entire series. The man nicknamed Star Boy in the dressing room has also eclipsed the runs made by Pope across three matches in this unbeaten knock alone.
Jacob Bethell plays a textbook cover driveCameron Spencer/Getty Images
What comes next will be crucial for both Bethell and England.
He is again contracted to RCB and is scheduled to stay in India after the Twenty20 World Cup that starts next month, and would be expected to stay there until the end of May should the reigning IPL champions reach the final stages once again.
That would leave him with little time to prepare for the first Test of next summer, against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4. We would be revisiting the same dilemma as last season.
It will be a test of the priorities for Bethell and England, and an indication of whether the ECB has any control over its players prioritising IPL riches over their country, even when they are centrally contracted.
That delicate dilemma can wait as Bethell reflects on the innings that will change his life, and could even alter the outcome of this final Test if he can stick around on the last day.
“It feels pretty good,” he told TNT at the close of play, having watched back footage of his father, in tears, rising to his feet as the ball skipped over the boundary rope and the long-awaited 100 was brought up. “It hasn’t sunk in yet, but to have my family here was pretty special. My dad stayed off the beers so he could properly watch, but I’m sure he’ll have a couple tonight.
“He is quite an emotional person but I didn’t think he’d be that emotional.
“I found a real nice zone in terms of scoring at the right tempo as well as being able to throw the odd punch without taking too much risk. That will give me a world of confidence, especially as it will stop people talking about me not getting a hundred.”
Instead, people will talk about this century and where it will take both him and England. The game may have changed substantially in the franchise era, but Test cricket remains the biggest and best arena to showcase a cricketer’s talents.
Bethell should be encouraged to put it first and grace it for the rest of his career.
