The 21-year-old all-rounder stole the show just four days after his return from the Indian Premier League, hitting a scintillating 82 from 53 balls to help power England to their highest one-day international total in three years in the opening match of this series against the West Indies.
Bethell’s performance, including a wicket for his left-arm spin, will inevitably send the speculation about his Test future into overdrive after this latest display of clean hitting.
Bethell was unlucky to miss out on his first century (Photo: Reuters)
Three half-centuries from No 3 saw the Barbados-born prodigy become favourite to oust Ollie Pope in that position this summer before he was allowed to skip the one-off Test against Zimbabwe to play in the IPL.
Although Pope now looks favourite to retain his place for the first Test against India at Headingley next month, it feels like only a matter of time before Bethell is shoehorned back into the XI.
That surely happens before the Ashes start at Perth on 21 November, if not sooner, because Bethell looks tailor-made for the biggest series of all in the same way Kevin Pietersen did before he was unleashed on the Aussies in that unforgettable summer of 2005.
“He doesn’t need too much more bigging up to be honest. He knows he’s a good player and so do we all. We know he’s an exceptional player. He’s going to have a very long England career if he keeps on batting the way he does. He brings so much to a side. He can bowl, he can field as well.
On his own Test prospects, Bethell admitted after his man-of-the-match performance at Edgbaston: “Not a lot has been said to me. I came in a as a replacement [in New Zealand], but at the end of the day the Test boys have their spots and I will be happy with whatever.”
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Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Brook also all passed 50 but it was Bethell who turbo-charged the run rate, dominating a 98-run stand with Will Jacks in just 43 balls after England had been reduced to 287-5 following the dismissal of former captain Jos Buttler two balls in the 41st over.
This was the first time since then England have posted a 400-plus score against a major nation, with the ODI-record total of 498 for four they hit in June 2022 coming against the Netherlands.
But given England’s form in recent years, including the limpest title defence imaginable at the 2023 World Cup and the first-round exit from the Champions Trophy in February that cost Buttler his job, this result was a decent start to Brook’s tenure.
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