England’s shining light Jacob Bethell determined to turn centuries into wins
Bethell’s brilliant centuries in the Ashes and the T20 World Cup semi-final both came in defeats.
Jacob Bethell wants to keep levelling up following a bittersweet winter in which his two stellar centuries were tinged by England defeats.
Parachuted into the Ashes with England 3-0 down and the urn gone, Bethell all but guaranteed he will bat at three in this summer’s home Tests with a breakout 154 in the Sydney dead rubber in January.
Bethell offered more evidence he thrives under pressure in England’s T20 World Cup semi-final against India with an astonishing 45-ball ton that gave them hope of chasing down an astronomical 254 in Mumbai.
Despite his interventions, England lost both matches and while Bethell can reflect with satisfaction at how he has enhanced his standing, the left-handed all-rounder admitted it is tempered by the outcomes.
Bethell faces the prospect of just over a week at home in Barbados before returning to India for the Indian Premier League and he plans to use the downtime to take stock following an eventful past few months.
But asked to rate his two hundreds this winter, Bethell responded: “They’re not comparable, really. The skills and mental thinking are different but both feelings are pretty good.
“But both of them have come in losing causes, which is a weird feeling. Cricket is a cruel game, personal performances don’t always solidify into team performances.
“Both of those are tough pills to swallow but I’m very proud of the way I went about both knocks. My game’s evolved a lot over the past six or seven months and I’ll look to take that further.”
Bethell registered his maiden professional three-figure score in an ODI against South Africa last September and his Ashes knock followed by Thursday’s T20 blitz meant he joined an exclusive club.
Only Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Harry Brook had registered centuries in all three formats among England men’s internationals and Bethell has done so aged only 22, with the promise of more to follow.
He revealed he was in a race with Brook to get there first but the Yorkshireman pipped him last week after moving up to bat at three against Pakistan in Sri Lanka, dropping Bethell down one spot in the order.
Bethell, though, finished as England’s leading run-scorer at the tournament with 280 at an average of 35.
“I always had the self-belief to be able to do it,” Bethell said. “Now that it’s done, hopefully I can add to the tally in all three formats.
“Me and Brooky were joking about who was going to be the first to get all three between us. He was like ‘you’re batting at three so it’s got to be you’ and then he took my spot at three and did it then I managed to do it at four.
“Both of us can sit back and be very proud of ourselves but at the end of the day his came in a winning cause and mine in a losing cause. He’ll always have that up on me but it’s been special.”
