THE OVAL — Amid the chaos of England’s week of turmoil following the decision to stand down captain Ben Stokes, the plight of Jacob Bethell has flown under the radar.
Having come into this series against New Zealand on the back of no first-class cricket since his breakout 154 against Australia at Sydney in January, he will head to Nottingham for next week’s third and final Test having scored 29 runs in four innings in this series.
His dismissal on day four of this second Test, pinned lbw by Kyle Jamieson for a three-ball duck, did little to help England in their theoretical chase of 463 at The Oval.
Yet who can blame the 22-year-old given he has been set up to fail yet again by England’s management?
Having taken Ollie Pope out of the firing line three Tests into last winter’s Ashes, Bethell’s contributions in Melbourne, scoring 40 in a low-scoring run chase, and Sydney, where he struck a maiden Test century, cemented him as England’s newest No 3.
