The young cricketer is set for the national team to throw me in the deep end” as he prepares to guide the side for the debut against Ireland on midweek, establishing him as the country’s most junior men’s captain.
With Harry Brook rested for this quickfire triple-header Twenty20 series in a Dublin suburb, just north of Dublin, the youngster takes over to extend his brisk rise in international cricket. Bethell made his England debut last September and shone in his first Test series against New Zealand at the close of the season. Still working to seal a regular place in the red-ball XI, he has emerged as an automatic pick in the coach’s white-ball teams.
“Baz phoned me and said I was going to be captain,” stated Bethell. “Very little has been said of why I’ve been selected for the position. I’m unsure of the exact thinking of those in charge. Perhaps it’s possibly just a leap of faith, and demonstrating a support. It will be nice to observe how I go under stress, and I believe that the people who chose me would want to observe that also.”
“I enjoy when situations arrive with a rapid speed, it often get me up and going. So I like those situations, doesn’t mean they go perfectly. But with luck this one does.”
Despite plenty of experienced names in the team to take on Ireland, Bethell’s ascension is in keeping with the coaching staff’s wilder impulses when it involves picking players. He will have to fall back on his past background of captaining the youth team.
Style of Captaincy
“Inexperienced but eager,” answered a grinning Bethell when questioned what type of captain he is. “The main thing I’ve respected in skippers I’ve had before is how they manage people. Some on-field choice you make is going to succeed, but it’s guiding the team well so they know you’re backing them. I’ve got no set notions of how I’ll approach it.”
Bethell has hit his stride with the bat since he was named as captain last four weeks, having notched his first professional century in the third ODI against the Proteas less than a fortnight ago. “I didn’t play for a spell and maybe slipped in form, but found that rhythm improve about in the middle of the Hundred so it’s reassuring to be back in form.” He avoided any detailed Ashes talk: “I’m firmly screwed on to the Ireland games.”
Opposition Dangers
Harry Tector and Paul Stirling “are the two main threats with the bat” for Ireland, noted the skipper. The home side enter underprepared having had no games since summer – a completely different story to the visitors – and will be without the sharp bowling of a key bowler, on the recovery from a side strain. Yet, the only finished T20 meeting between these two sides brought an upset in Australia at the World Cup three years ago, a warning that it may not be all straightforward for the new captain over the series.
