England take chance on batter Jacob Bethell for Test tour of New Zealand

Warwickshire’s Jacob Bethell appears to be England’s latest punt, with the 21-year-old batter named in the 16-man Test squad for the upcoming tour of New Zealand.

England’s first-choice wicketkeeper, Jamie Smith, will miss the tour due to paternity leave, with Essex’s Jordan Cox set to take the gloves for the three-match series that begins on 28 November.

Bethell debuted in both white-ball formats against Australia this summer and impressed in England’s T20 win at Sophia Gardens, striking a 24-ball 44 in a chase of 194. His left-arm orthodox spin was called upon, too, with four wickets taken in the one-day series loss. Bethell’s batting is his stronger suit – by some distance – but his resume is still missing a professional hundred.

Born and raised in Barbados, Bethell was fast-tracked into England’s limited-overs setup after decent returns in this year’s T20 Blast and the Hundred. He averaged 36.10 and struck at 153.61 in the former, and helped Birmingham Phoenix to the knockout stages of the latter. Speaking earlier this month at the PCA awards, he outlined his “dream” of playing Test cricket.

“It’s nice to tick off two of them but the best one’s yet to come hopefully,” said Bethell. “Test cricket has always been my dream and I know it’s taken a different shape in the last three years but, definitely, that’s still my dream – to play Test cricket for England.”

Bethell also admitted he was still searching for his identity as a red-ball cricketer; he averages 25.44 with the bat in first-class cricket after 20 matches, with seven wickets taken at 96.14. “I haven’t really found a place where I’ve gone, ‘Right, this feels like home in terms of a place in the batting order’,” he added. “That could be anywhere from opening to batting No 7. Especially with bowling off-spin, I’m hoping that I can get into a team being a genuine all-rounder.”

England seem unconcerned with Bethell’s own uncertainty, keeping in line with recent selections that have prioritised promise over performances in the County Championship. Josh Hull and Shoaib Bashir are others who have debuted this year despite possessing limited domestic records. But Bethell remains unique in the Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes era as a batter called up without a red-ball background of note.

Bethell in for Smith is the only change from the squad that suffered a 2-1 series defeat in Pakistan. Again, England are happy to play a risky game, with Cox to debut as a keeper despite having limited experience behind the stumps. The 24-year-old has played as a wicketkeeper in just six first-class matches, all for Kent in 2023 before his move to Essex. The absence of Smith is significant; only Harry Brook and Joe Root having scored more Test runs for England since his debut in the summer.

Ollie Pope appears to be England’s backup option with the gloves, having kept on a tour of New Zealand five years ago when Jos Buttler suffered an injury. Pope keeps his place despite struggling against Pakistan to continue a strange year, one that has produced three Test hundreds – each against a different side – three wins from four as captain and a batting average of 32.

Despite a drastic change in conditions – the Hagley Oval is unlikely to resemble the bunsens in Multan and Rawalpindi – England have kept the same balance of bowlers in their squad, picking three spinners in Bashir, Jack Leach and Rehan Ahmed. A serious challenge awaits, with England having not won a Test series in New Zealand since 2008.