Twenty-year-old Jacob Bethell will make his international debut today (September 11), after he was picked in England’s XI for the first match of their T20I series against Australia.
Bethell’s selection comes as part of a new-look England side at the Utilita Bowl, with two other debutants - Jordan Cox and Jamie Overton - also in the side. They will be without regular captain Jos Buttler, who aggravated a calf injury while training with Lancashire, and are led instead by Phil Salt. Bethell is slated to bat at five in the order, with Liam Livingstone stepping up to four.
An all-rounder who bowls left-arm spin and bats in the middle order in white-ball cricket, Bethell is known for his aggression, and scores his runs at a strike rate of 137.57 in T20 cricket. His selection at this point in his career comes after a breakout season in the T20 Blast, in which he scored 361 runs and scored all four of his T20 half-centuries, including a 15-ball 50 against Northants. He was also impressive in The Hundred for Birmingham Phoenix, finishing two runs out of the top ten run scorers in this year's competition.
Born and raised in Barbados, Bethell played age group cricket in the West Indies before moving to the UK as a teenager when he earned a scholarship to Rugby School. While playing schools cricket in the Caribbean, he was given high praise by Brian Lara, who told the then pre-teen Bethell: "You are much better than I was when I was 11".
He signed his first professional contract for Warwickshire aged 17 in 2021. At the time, he also earned praise from Ian Bell, who labelled Bethell "the best 17-year-old" he had ever seen, and cited that his retirement was in part so that younger players like Bethell could come through. Later that year, Bethell made his List A debut in the One Day Cup against Glamorgan, in which he scored just two runs but took four wickets with his left-arm spin.
In September 2021, he was named joint captain with Tom Prest for England Lions against the West Indies, in a squad which also included Rehan Ahmed and James Rew. He was then also named in England’s U19 World Cup squad the following year, in which he made waves with a 42-ball 88 in the quarter-final.
With Moeen Ali now out of the picture having retired from international cricket, Bethell is one of two spinning all-rounders England are bringing through their white-ball ranks. Bethell's Warwickshire teammate Dan Mousley is also in their squad for the Australia T20Is. The first T20I of the series will get underway tonight at 6:30pm.
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