Jacob Bethell has been ruled out of the final week of the Indian Premier League and is in doubt to play the first Test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord’s.
The England No.3’s participation for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru had already been the subject of great debate. He began the season on the sidelines due to RCB’s plethora of overseas options, with Alastair Cook leading the argument that he would be better served playing in the County Championship ahead of England’s international summer. Bethell managed to break into RCB’s XI, but that he sustained an injury to his left ring finger after doing so may delay his England season, which will open the conversation anew.
Who will replace Jacob Bethell if he misses first New Zealand Test?
Bethell will be fully assessed ahead of the first Test at Lord’s, which starts on June 4, to determine his availability. Should he be unavailable, the immediate beneficiary will be the uncapped James Rew, the spare batter in the squad. The Somerset 22-year-old has enjoyed a prolific start to his county career, averaging 42 with 12 hundreds after 63 games, and while he has generally batted in the middle order while keeping, he should slot in capably at No.3.
How England might replace Bethell in the squad is the more intriguing question. They are unlikely to go back to Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope, axed after the Ashes, with the former enduring a horror start to the County Championship and the latter not yet doing enough to force his way back in. Jordan Cox has long served as England’s next man in, only to see himself leapfrogged by both Rew and Emilio Gay while sitting on the RCB bench with Bethell. He was in line for a Test debut in New Zealand in 2024 before a broken finger cleared the path for Bethell to make his claim. There would be a neat symmetry if a finger injury to Bethell allowed Cox to re-enter the frame.
It might be that England opt to pick a batter in red-ball form, rather than parachute Cox straight in from the IPL. If they do, Glamorgan’s Asa Tribe is likely to be a contender. While he is yet to catch fire in Division One this season, he impressed England with a century for the Lions in Australia, and made a half-century on day three of the Lions’ ongoing game against South Africa A. Tom Haines and Ben McKinney are two openers who could be in the frame, while if England opt for an experienced head to step in, Joe Clarke and Tom Abell are leading the Division One run-charts, with Dan Lawrence, who last played a Test in 2024, not far behind.
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