Jacob Bethell says he is “ready to perform” if called upon in the Ashes after the young batter struck his first professional century in England’s record 342-run demolition of South Africa.
The 21-year-old, who turns 22 next month, became England’s second-youngest men’s ODI centurion at Southampton. Already with four Tests and three half-centuries under his belt, Bethell is expected to travel to Australia in November as a reserve batter — but he hopes his white-ball performances will strengthen his claim for selection.
Building Ashes Momentum
Bethell’s breakthrough came after a strong domestic and international summer. He was promoted to No. 4 against South Africa, where he scored 110 off 82 balls, powering a 182-run stand with Joe Root.
Reflecting on his milestone moment, Bethell said:
“𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍… 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒔 𝑰 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒂𝒑, 𝒊𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒚. 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅 — 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒓. 𝑰𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆, 𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆.”
His innings followed a quickfire 58 at Lord’s, showcasing his ability to take down spinners. While he does not expect a permanent shift to No. 4, usually occupied by captain Harry Brook, Bethell insisted he is prepared for any opportunity.
“Got to Be Ready to Perform”
The youngster acknowledged that an Ashes call-up could depend on injuries or team reshuffling but stressed his readiness.
“𝑰𝒇 𝑰’𝒎 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅, 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 — 𝒂𝒏 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 — 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰’𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎,” 𝑩𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 [𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏], 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒉𝒖𝒓𝒕.”
Bethell’s ties with Root run deep — their fathers played club cricket together, and the pair have now shared the crease for centuries twice this summer. Root praised him as “wise beyond his years” and highlighted his clarity in approach.
Rediscovering Rhythm
Bethell admitted he “probably should have played more” domestic cricket during England’s Test series against India but said he regained rhythm while playing for Birmingham Phoenix in The Hundred.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌. 𝑰 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒔 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑵𝒐𝒘, 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔, 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒔,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒅.
Later this month, Bethell will captain England in the T20I series against Ireland, stepping in for Brook. The opportunity excites him, as he noted the squad is filled with self-driven cricketers:
“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒏 𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒑𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑰𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 — 𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒇𝒖𝒏.”
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