He became the second-youngest England player to score a hundred in Men's ODIs.
Jacob Bethell, the England prodigy, made a smashing return in the recently concluded home ODI series against South Africa. After a stunning debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), followed by a noteworthy series against the West Indies at home, the batter somehow lost his great touch of form and registered consecutive poor performances.
However, after notching up a pulsating 82-ball 110 in the final 50-over fixture against the Proteas, the 21-year-old is now looking forward to making it to the Ashes 2025 squad. He also became the second-youngest England player to score a hundred in Men’s ODIs.
“I didn’t feel like I was hitting the ball badly at all, just the performances didn’t show. It’s just rhythm, I guess. You can watch as much cricket as you want, but it is different when you’re out in the middle. It just took me a couple of games to get that back,” stated the youngster after the match.
The 21-year-old had also put up a crucial 58 off 40 balls in the previous ENG vs SA ODI fixture. Moreover, Bethell is set to lead the English squad in their upcoming T20I tour of Ireland, starting on September 17. This will make him the youngest captain to lead England, after Monty Bowden, who had captained in a Test match in 1889, at the age of 23.
However, the batter has his eyes set for England’s biggest Test assignment, the Ashes 2025, following a sub-par outing against India in the final fixture of the inaugural Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series. Bethell was included in the playing XI in place of captain Ben Stokes, who got sidelined due to a shoulder injury. But the player only managed to put up 11 runs and went wicketless at The Oval.
“I’m hoping to be in the squad and I’ve got to be ready to perform. I don’t know if these runs mean anything [towards selection], but if the opportunity arises, I’ll hopefully be there to take it,” added the southpaw.
The highly anticipated Ashes 2025 will kickoff on November 21 in Perth, Australia. Notably, the side is yet to win an Ashes series since 2015. Furthermore, England registered their last Test victory in Australia back in 2011, before being whitewashed by the Aussies thrice in a row.
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Bethell and former England skipper Joe Root’s sublime centuries, backed by two crucial 62-run knocks from the wicketkeeper-batters, Jamie Smith and Jos Buttler, powered them to a massive 414/5. Following this, a fierce four-fer from Jofra Archer and a pivotal three-wicket haul from Adil Rashid helped them bundle out South Africa’s lineup for just 72 runs.
South Africa’s huge 342-run loss in the concluding 50-over fixture made it to the record books as the heaviest defeat by margin of runs in history. However, the Proteas had already secured the three-match overseas ODI series with back-to-back victories against Harry Brook and Co. These two sides will next clash in a three-fixture T20I series, starting on September 10.
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