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England take a punt on Bethell for NZ tour
The Guardian
|October 30, 2024
Warwickshire's Jacob Bethell appears to be England's latest punt, with the 21-year-old batter named in the 16-man Test squad for the upcoming tour of New Zealand.
England's first-choice wicketkeeper Jamie Smith will miss the tour because of paternity leave, with Essex's Jordan Cox poised to take the gloves for the three-match series that begins on 28 November.
Bethell debuted in both white-ball formats against Australia this summer and impressed in England's Twenty20 win at Sophia Gardens, striking a 24-ball 44 in a chase of 194.
His left-arm orthodox spin was called upon too, with four wickets taken in the one-day series defeat. Bethell's batting is his stronger suit – by some distance – but his resume is still missing a professional hundred.
Born and raised in Barbados, Bethell was fast-tracked into the England limited-overs setup after decent returns this year in the T20 Blast and the Hundred. He averaged 36.10 and struck at 153.61 in the former, and helped Birmingham Phoenix to make the knockout stages of the latter.
Speaking this month at the PCA awards, he outlined his "dream" of playing Test cricket.
This story is from the October 30, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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