'It's a double-edged sword ... but I like No 3'

Until his ice-cool 40 helped England dodge an Ashes whitewash in front of 90,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, the most clippable aspect of Jacob Bethell’s tour was probably his performance of YMCA on a dancefloor in Noosa during the team’s much-discussed break.

- Ali Martin

It is a bit poor when sports people have their down time filmed by members of the public and posted online. But at least Bethell, born 25 years after the Village People’s seminal hit was first released, had the wherewithal to get the tricky “C” the right way round. Rob Key’s Gareth Keenan-like investigation into Noosa can rule out inebriation here.

Technique is Bethell’s thing, the reason why this 22-year-old has always played above his age. Coaches and selectors purr about the left-hander’s balance and poise, his ability to pick up length early and the weight transfer that allows him to drive and clip with timing or rock back to pull and cut with power. Put simply, he looks the part.

Despite being feted by Sir Garfield Sobers and Brian Lara when growing up in the Caribbean, Bethell is still to make a first-class century. For all the promise of his first Test outing in New Zealand 12 months ago - including a near-miss 96 in Wellington - his return on Boxing Day at No 3 could have been a daunting one.

“I was pretty nervous,” said Bethell, who fell for one in the first innings. “Not so much with the number of people, just the occasion. I’ve played in

India where it feels like there’s 160,000 watching.”