Jacob Bethell has responded to criticism about his lack of match time at the Indian Premier League as former England captain Sir Alastair Cook called for him to consider a return to county cricket.
Bethell’s century in the final Test at Sydney in January was a belated high point of England’s woeful Ashes tour and he cemented his status as a star in the making with an astonishing 105 in the T20 World Cup semi-final against India in March.
But that remains his most recent competitive innings, having failed to earn a spot in the Royal Challengers Bengaluru team.
He has spent six matches so far at the IPL watching from the sidelines, with head coach Andy Flower preferring England team-mate Phil Salt, Tim David, Romario Shepherd and Josh Hazlewood as his overseas picks.
The 22-year-old is now facing a similar situation to last season, when his IPL stint prevented him from pushing his cause at the start of the domestic campaign and ultimately stopped him from overtaking Ollie Pope in the pecking order until the Ashes had already been lost.
Cook says Bethell should consider returning to play county cricket with Warwickshire, rather than “sitting on his a*** not doing anything” at the Indian Premier League.
Speaking on the latest Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Bethell said: “I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to do it.
“I think we’ve seen last year, for me personally, that by not playing cricket for a little while, I came into the end of that India series a bit undercooked, which was a learning for me to take on board.
Jacob Bethell is at the IPL again this year with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)
“But actually, if you look at where I was last year after coming back from the IPL, I was flying, going into that West Indies series and I feel in a similar position now.
“I feel better now than I was a month ago after the World Cup, through just getting time around the guys over here and the pure standard of cricket in India and the IPL.
“It’s something that not many people will understand how cool it is until actually being around a team or the tournament itself when you’re here.
“It just has a completely different feel. It feels like everyone almost ups their game subconsciously without even really knowing because of the calibre of the tournament.
“I feel like that even happens when you’re not on the starting XI or even starting XII as it might be now with the impact player.”
Cook: Bethell can open in Test side
England opener Ben Duckett pulled out of a contract with Delhi Capitals recently to play for Nottinghamshire and shore up his Test spot, but it seems a long shot that Bethell will seek an early exit.
RCB are well placed in the standings and an agreement is already in place with the England and Wales Cricket Board over player availability.
Cook feels Bethell showed Down Under that he could answer England’s problems at opener, where Zak Crawley looks certain to make way, but is worried by his lack of cricket.
“For that top order batting, the way he played at Sydney, against that attack, in those conditions – I’ve looked at a player there and I’m certain this bloke can open. If he can bat three, he can open,” Cook said on the Stick to Cricket podcast.
“(But) it’s not ideal, is it? Bethell shouldn’t really be it, because he’s not opening. He’s sitting on his a*** at the IPL not doing anything. Ideally he could come back and open for Warwickshire to help England.”
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Jacob Bethell reached a half-century off just 28-balls with this massive six against Nepal in the T20 World Cup!
But Bethell, who earns around £250,000 from his IPL deal, says even the net sessions outside of matches have pressure in India.
“You’ve got hundreds of eyes on you, albeit you either have your coaches or the other players who are also looking at you going, ‘is this guy good? Is he not?’ You got the people in the crowd with the phones on.
“I think you get exposed to a lot of stuff.
“You might not get the amount of time in the middle as [you do] in County Championship playing four rounds of that. But I think in terms of the ability to actually just continue doing what you want to do when there are loads of eyes on you, is really important for me personally going forward.
“Also, it’s been scheduled in now where we’ve had practice matches when we’re not playing. I know that’s not going to be the same as an actual competitive game, but we’re getting time out in the middle from that because it feels like the whole squad’s pulling together to try.
“They know it’s going to be a team effort, a squad effort to win the trophy again. And Coxsy (England international Jordan Cox) as well is not being left just to ponder about what’s happening on the sideline.
“But in short, I think there’s no right way. I firmly believe that this is the thing for me to be doing right now.”
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Jacob Bethell claimed his first England Test hundred was ‘always coming’ after scoring 142 not out on day four against Australia in Sydney
Bethell: I’d love to stay at No 3
Bethell’s sublime unbeaten 142 at the Sydney Cricket Ground was one of the few highlights during England’s 4-1 Ashes defeat over the winter.
He was hailed as “the future of England cricket” by Cook following his performance in Sydney, which was only his sixth Test, and there has been talk over whether Bethell should move up to open the batting, which would also create a spot for Somerset wicketkeeper-batter James Rew to come into the team.
But, Bethell said: “I’d love to stay at three, if it’s up to me. I really like the position.
“I don’t think there’s a massive difference between three and the top.
“Someone like Rooty (Joe Root) had to start opening the batting and then kind of sit back down into number four. So if that’s what they want me to do, I’d be more than happy to do it.
“But, I like three and I’d love to cement that spot as mine if possible.”
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Nasser Hussain said after the fourth Ashes Test that England will regret not starting the series with Jacob Bethell
Bethell says his performances for England are what he “pretty much believed in”, despite question marks about him not hitting a century in professional cricket prior to his Sydney heroics.
“There was obviously a lot of talk around the no first-class hundred or whatever, but I never paid that too much attention.
“I felt like I’ve always played better against better opposition, and that’s shown a bit in terms of, I like playing against great teams and taking on good bowlers.
“You can look at the three hundreds (his first in both ODI and T20 internationals) and go, ‘it’s been great’. But there’s been some lean patches in there as well.
“I didn’t have the greatest English summer last year and then topped it off with a hundred, and then some low scores in New Zealand prior to the Ashes was actually a bit out of touch going into that series.
“You can look at it from the outside and say it’s all smooth sailing, but it’s been nice to actually go up and down and actually just learn to deal with that through spending a year on the road pretty much.
“It’s been great to have those standout moments, but all it does is make me hungry for a lot more.”
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