With every blow of his pulsating 82-ball 110 against South Africa in Southampton, Jacob Bethell reinforced what should already have been obvious: When England and Australia begin battle in Perth on November 21, he – not Ollie Pope – must walk out at No 3.
Conservative voices in English cricket will caution against it, just as they usually question any show of daring or adventure. But England will not regain the Ashes by playing safe.
And, deep down, they know the answer to a simple question: which of Pope or Bethell would Australia rather bowl to?
It helps that head coach Brendon McCullum has not bothered to hide his excitement. ‘He’s a huge player,’ he said after Bethell finally scored his first senior hundred on Sunday as part of England’s world-record thumping of the Proteas.
‘He’s going to have some life: being able to play like he does at 21 years of age, and having the head on his shoulders that he’s got too.’
Bethell’s rise would not have been possible under previous regimes, with their old-school beliefs in serving time on the county circuit. And when Jamie Smith’s paternity leave last winter obliged a rejig that left Bethell – armed with a first-class average of 25 – at No 3 for the Test series in New Zealand, the purists were up in arms.
Jacob Bethell’s first senior century confirmed what should now be obvious: He must be England’s No 3 for this winter’s Ashes
Bethell’s superb innings propelled England to a record-breaking ODI win and finally removed the one knock against this supremely talented young batsman
Unfazed, he made 260 runs at 52, exuding a calm that has often been beyond Pope.
Ironically, perhaps, the biggest obstacle to Bethell’s ascent has been a more contemporary orthodoxy: don’t upset India.
Having signed for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL, and despite appearing in only two group games out of 14, Bethell was obliged by cricketing geopolitics to stay at the tournament, while Pope (and Zak Crawley) helped themselves to facile Test hundreds against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge.
England’s logic was that Pope was now undroppable, keeping Bethell out of the Test team against India until the fifth game at the Oval, by which time he has mislaid his rhythm.
Now, given the chance to bat at No 4 in the one-day side, he has responded with 168 runs in two innings off just 122 balls. Thanks to his natural gifts, the mess England made of his non-selection against India has been glossed over.
McCullum, needless to say, doesn’t do regret, insisting: ‘We are where we are now, and I want to celebrate the fact that his first-ever professional hundred has been scored in the England jumper at the age of 21. Gower’s the only other one, and he was a pretty good player. We’ll see where Jacob ends up.’
None of this need be a slight on Pope, who has averaged 41 at No 3 in the Bazball era, kept wicket in an emergency and even dropped to No 6 to serve the team’s best interests.
But the argument that England will lose their vice-captain if they drop him for the start of the Ashes is less relevant now that Bethell will take charge of next week’s T20 series in Dublin, as the youngest captain in this nation’s history. The brains trust, in other words, will not suffer.
Pope is England’s vice-captain, but Bethell will also take on the armband in the upcoming T20 series in Ireland
Bethell averaged 52 with the bat against New Zealand last winter
Pope averages just 15 in the Ashes, and Australia will be only too happy to see him again this winter
‘He’s got a huge future in front of him,’ said McCullum. ‘He’s going to captain England, which is a tremendous honour, and we’ve put him in that position because we feel he’s got leadership qualities. He links a lot of the guys in the different personalities in the group** **and he sees the game and the similar way to we do.’
So does Pope, yet the India series was a microcosm of a frustrating career: a hundred to get going at Headingley, followed by a lone half-century in his next eight innings, and a series average of 34, one below his career figure.
While Bethell twiddled his thumbs – a state of affairs he now says he regrets – England learned nothing. And if Pope, who averages 15 against Australia, starts at Perth, they will learn nothing all over again.
The history of Ashes tours suggests that calculated risk is the only way to upset Australia, who have won 99 and lost just 57 of their home Tests against England.
From the Bodyline gamble to silence Don Bradman in 1932-33, via the promotion of Frank Tyson above Alec Bedser in 1954-55 and the first-day blitz at Brisbane by Ian Botham in 1986-87, through to the the ruthless mid-series dropping of Steven Finn in 2010-11, fortune has favoured the brave.
McCullum says England still have a ‘few fish to fry’ before they think about the XI for Australia – an understandable attempt to manage the hype. But everyone is thinking about the Ashes. And it requires little thought to conclude that Bethell deserves his break.
