‘All the attributes are there’ – Jacob Bethell backed to thrive at Test level
The 21-year-old has selected as batting cover for three Tests in New Zealand.
Marcus Trescothick is confident Jacob Bethell can make the grade in Test cricket and believes it is only a matter of time until the youngster barges his way into the England team.
Bethell has impressed since being drafted into the white-ball sides at the end of the summer, thumping 20 in five balls off Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa and amassing three fifties in the Caribbean.
The 21-year-old has little time to take stock of a dizzying past few months after being surprisingly selected as batting cover for three Tests in New Zealand, starting on November 28 in Christchurch.
Despite a modest average of 25.44 from 20 first-class outings, Trescothick has no doubt Bethell would thrive if presented with a chance against the Black Caps, likening his aptitude for the highest level to Harry Brook, an all-format star for England who sits third in the world Test batting rankings.
“All the attributes are there,” Trescothick said. “If you have markers to be able to go ‘right, you need to do this, this and this’, he’d be knocking on the door for that.
“Obviously he’s now next in line on this next trip. There’s no reason why he can’t break through and succeed because he’s flourished in both (white-ball) formats that we’ve seen in the recent period of time.
“If he was to get an opportunity over there, it would be exciting to see him go in there and see what he can do.
“You could almost see him breaking through as being the next youngster after Harry Brook, the real exciting one coming through for the next journey they’re going to take.”
Trescothick will link up with Bethell in New Zealand to get back to his day job as one of Brendon McCullum’s Test assistants following the conclusion of his spell as interim white-ball head coach.
The former England opener won one of his four series in charge – a 3-1 T20 win over the West Indies in the Caribbean in the last week – after being tasked with overseeing the white-ball reset before McCullum unifies the coaching roles in the new year.
While Bethell has taken centre stage, Dan Mousley, John Turner and Jamie Overton have also shown promise, Liam Livingstone has breathed fresh life into his career, as has Saqib Mahmood after successive stress fractures in his back compromised his availability in 2022 and 2023.
“Of course, the balance is that you always want to win at the end of the day, so you’re going into every game trying to win it,” Trescothick said. “But I think we’ve now got bigger depth.
“The most important thing was getting games into players, exposing them to pressure environments when some of your best players aren’t around, and seeing whether they’re going to be good enough.”
Fast bowler Jofra Archer got another three ODIs and three T20s under his belt against the West Indies and a Test comeback in the middle of 2025 remains on track.
“We’d love him back for every game of cricket that you could play, including Test matches,” Trescothick said. “He’s world class, and he would fit into every team that England play.
“It’s just not going to be possible at the moment. We’ll just keep monitoring it and keep our lid on where we are going with him and hopefully get the best out of him.”
Meanwhile, England’s white-ball coaching structure is in limbo after it was announced assistants Carl Hopkinson and Richard Dawson had left their roles ahead of McCullum taking charge.
“I think we’ve got an idea about what it’s going to look like – it’s not been confirmed as of yet,” added Trescothick, who recently admitted he would like to be England head coach one day.
