Jacob Bethell’s impressive innings on Day 4’ gave England a glimmer of hope in the fifth Test and left a burning question lingering around the future of Bazball.
The 22-year-old will start the final day of the Ashes series unbeaten on 142. Bethell was patient and technically sound, batting well beyond his years and experience.
Watch The Ashes 2025/26 LIVE and ad-break free during play with FOX CRICKET on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
In just his sixth career Test match, Bethell was able to do what only Joe Root has been able to achieve this series – hit triple figures in an innings for England.
Simply put, if it wasn’t for Bethell, this Test would likely be over already.
With the future of Bazball architects Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes up in the air, Bethell played with a poise that had deserted many of England’s stars down under.
Meanwhile, England mainstays Ben Duckett, Zak Crawley and Harry Brook have been widely criticised for the manner of their dismissals on this tour.
‘I thought I was as good as anyone’ | 04:22
DAY 4 TALKERS: Slug’s secret weapon proves he can’t be axed again; radical Poms plan
‘A KID TO THE WOLVES’: England wunderkind’s breakout 100 was ‘not the Bazball way’
MATCH CENTRE: Australia vs England fifth Ashes Test live scorecard
Brook is a world class batsman who can take the game away from opposition teams, but according to England legend Michael Vaughan, he’d want Bethell in his Test side over Brook “any day”.
“It was a batting masterclass today from someone that let the ball come and just caress the ball. You don’t need to overhit it,” Vaughan said on BBC’s Test Match Special.
“I didn’t see him hit the ball in the air that often … It was a throwback, that’s why I’m smiling.
“For a couple of years, I’ve thought am I wrong? Has Test match cricket moved on and you need to play in a different way and celebrate the fact that everyone needs to play like Harry Brook?
“Harry Brook is a lovely player but I tell you what, give me a Jacob Bethell or a Joe Root all day long in Test match cricket.”
Former Test opener Herschelle Gibbs and outspoken English broadcaster Piers Morgan shared the same sentiment as Vaughan.
One of England cricket’s leading scribes Nick Hoult wondered after Day 4 why Bethell hadn’t been given a chance by coach Brendon McCullum earlier.
“Bethell’s innings exposed the folly of sticking with Ollie Pope for so long when it was clear which No 3 had the better temperament and technique for Test cricket and a higher ceiling,” Hoult wrote for the Telegraph.
“He surpassed in this innings the number of runs Pope made across the series and oozed a natural confidence that his predecessor at could never quite pull off.
“England’s punt on Bethell a year ago worthwhile but added to the frustration that he was put in cold storage for so long, barely playing when he needed exposure to the rhythms of red-ball cricket, or any cricket for that matter, while Pope continued his inconsistency.
“Without Bethell, England would have been beaten in four days and the series over at 4-1. That scoreline still feels inevitable, with England 302 for eight, just 119 ahead and their bowling reduced by Stokes’s groin strain.
“To put into context how well Bethell played, no other England batsman scored more than 42 or lasted longer than 55 balls.”
England will start the fifth and final day on 8/302, with a lead of 119 runs.
FOLLOW ALL THE ACTION IN THE LIVE BLOG BELOW. CAN’T SEE IT? CLICK HERE!
Discussion about this post