When he was young, one of Jacob Bethell’s main tasks was to wake up Giselle Bethell, his mother, early in the morning, and persuade her to bowl at him. Bethell, who grew up in Barbados, and came over to the UK only when he was about 13, is now one of the promising cricketers in the England set-up across formats. His burgeoning potential could be noticed in the U19 World Cup, where he played a blazing innings against South Africa U19. The essence of his batting then was a little more time on his hands.
And that salient feature of his batting could be observed during the recently concluded Test rubber in New Zealand where he notched up 260 runs. It wasn’t just the runs, but it was also how he scored them. Once again, he seemed to have a little more time while facing the express pace and hit-the-deck skills of Will O’Rourke as he essayed a slew of horizontal-bat shots. He was prepared to smack even back-of-a-length deliveries down the ground.
Bethell, who can also bowl some left-arm spin, is slotted in at No. 6 in the batting order for the first T20I against India, at Eden Gardens. That batting position is perhaps a little too low for a player of his promise. But he is one of the changes that England have made to their rather new-look limited-overs squads.
Moeen Ali*, Chris Jordan, Sam Curran, Chris Woakes and Will Jacks are the names missing from England’s limited-overs squads for the tour of India and the Champions Trophy. Instead, with Brendon McMullum at the helm, England seem to be trusting Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson, Bethell, Ben Duckett, Saqib Mahmood and Jamie Overton to grab their opportunities in the shorter versions of the game. Among the lot, the younger of the Overton twins is an interesting pick.
Many moons ago, in 2013, Jamie Overton was part of a Somerset side that was taking on the touring Australians. Although he was expensive in that match, there was unmistakable evidence of his potential to clock 90mph and generate some old-ball swing. Over the last decade, he has been on the fringes of the England set-up.
Unfortunately, his career has been derailed by back injuries. Yet, he went on to make his Test debut against New Zealand in 2022. Interestingly, more than his pace bowling, it was his innings of 97 that brought him some fame in his maiden Test. His return to the England set-up after recovering from a couple more back problems has been based on his batting abilities that we witnessed in the Test series versus New Zealand.
Overton, who is also contracted with Adelaide Strikers, has accumulated 191 runs at a noteworthy average of 95.5 and strike rate of 156.5 in the current BBL season. Alongside those handy knocks, he has also summoned quick deliveries at speeds in the range of 140 kph.
Carse is another pace bowler that the management seems to be backing to the hilt. The coaching staff’s faith had paid off as Carse was clearly England’s attack leader in the Tests in Pakistan and New Zealand, plucking 27 scalps at 19.85. It was Carse’s trait to relentlessly pound the deck hard at over 140 kph that caught the eye in those two rubbers. He can also add useful runs down the order. With Atkinson, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood and Mahmood also in the England camp, it is apparent that they are trying to build a core of quicks who can bowl with a burst of pace.
There is one more player that we need to talk about, and that is Ben Duckett. The combative left-hand batter made his England debut as far back as 2016, but after a disastrous tour of India that year, he found himself mostly in the wilderness. It was the tour of Pakistan in 2022 that provided Duckett with an opportunity to break open the selection door for Test cricket.
Duckett, however, found it rather difficult to break into the white-ball playing XIs. Logically, Duckett should have partaken in a game or two in the T20 World Cup held in the West Indies but it didn’t happen. With Jacks and Bairstow left out of the side, Duckett has been given a new lease of life as he aims to cement his place in the top order in the abridged versions of the game. The key strength of Duckett is his adroitness in handling spin bowling. On Indian decks and in the Champions Trophy, that strength of his could prove to be useful.
After their semifinal exit in the 2024 T20 World Cup, England have decided to ring the changes, with a vision to tinker the structure of the pace-bowling unit. Will it lead to immediate results? Perhaps not. But there is a renewed hope that they are moving in the right direction in limited-overs cricket.
Moeen Ali* has retired from international cricket.