Alastair Cook impressed by new boy Jacob Bethell after his initiation to the longest format of the game vs New Zealand.
Alastair Cook, England’s former Test captain, believes Jacob Bethell’s temperament can make up for his lack of red-ball experience.
Ollie Pope was moved down to No. 6 as a temporary wicketkeeper, and Bethell was thrown in at No. 3 for the opening Test match against New Zealand after Jordan Cox was unable to make his own Test debut due to a hand injury.
Even though Bethell had only played 20 first-class matches in his professional career and had never reached a century in any senior format, he answered with scores of 10 and 50 not out in England’s eight-wicket victory.
Like Bethell, Cook was 21 when he scored a century in his Test debut against India in March 2006. He went on to make a then-record 161 appearances and miss just one more game due to sickness.
Cook had, however, finished a historic home season in 2005, which included five County Championship hundreds and a spectacular double-century against the visiting Australians, by the time he was called up. He also cautioned against having high expectations of Bethell on the eve of the second Test in Wellington, where he will provide studio analysis for TNT Sports.
“There’s a long way to go, but it’s been an encouraging start,” Cook said. “He’s probably a year or two years behind as a player, in terms of knowing his red-ball game. But all of us who’ve watched cricket and played cricket, have seen something about him.
“It’s hard to always pinpoint what it is about certain players that makes you think they’ve got a really good chance of making it to the next level. But I saw Jonny Bairstow bat as a youngster for Yorkshire. I saw Jos Butler bat for Somerset … it’s not easy to put into words, because it isn’t about words. It’s about something you see.
“For some, it’s the time they have at the crease, for some it’s how cleanly they hit the ball. But Bethell’s a seriously talented player, and he’s looked at home in international cricket straightaway. He’s plays the situation in front of him, and he’s not overawed by what is going on.”
Even in the hardship of England’s opening innings at Christchurch, something was evident. After Zak Crawley was out for a duck, Bethell came in in cloudy, swinging conditions. In the last over before lunch, he ground his way to 10 from 34 balls before taking a slug of a delivery from Nathan Smith.
“I was impressed,” Cook said. “Particularly the way that he gutsed it out in the first innings. His strike-rate in red-ball cricket is actually under 50. It’s clear he likes to build an innings. [even though] His array of shots is why he got picked for the white-ball team. There’s a huge amount of growth to be had there, without a doubt. Een though he’s nowhere near the finished article.”