Jacob Bethell. Bleach blonde mullet. England’s generational talent. Fresh off his maiden test century at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the fifth Ashes test match, which was also his maiden first class ton, I decided to take a look into the rise of a man who was “Born to play international cricket”.
Bethell was born in Barbados on the 23rd October 2003, before moving to the UK at age 12. His family have always been involved in cricket as his grandfather Arthur played first class cricket for Barbados. The all-rounder was named player of the tournament in a West Indies Under 15 tournament in 2017, prior to this he had earned a scholarship at Rugby School, which is a boarding school located in Warwickshire. Here he was coached by former Warwickshire captain Mike Powell, coincidentally Bethell went on to sign a 3 year professional contract with Warwickshire after former England cricketer Ian Bell labelled the young star as “the best 17 year old I have ever seen”.
Bethell made his senior debut for Warwickshire aged 17 in a List A match against Glamorgan, before representing them in his maiden first class match on the 12th September 2021 against Yorkshire where he batted at nine and made 23 runs against the likes of former England bowler Chris Woakes who was named England’s player of the series in the 2023 Ashes. The emerging star was picked up by Welsh Fire for their Hundred squad in 2022, before representing Birmingham Phoenix for the next 3 years where he has been a standout player.
In the same month where the left-hander made his first class debut, he returned home as he was selected and made joint captain in England Under 19s squad to tour the West Indies. He was then named as vice captain in the 2022 ICC Cricket Under 19 World Cup, where he scored an impressive 88 runs off 42 balls in his side’s victory over South Africa.
The breakout talent made his senior debut for England in the first T20 match against Australia of a three match series. In the second match his innings was described as “match winning” as he made 44 runs off 24 balls to lead his team to glory. England’s Test side then went to play a five match series in New Zealand. Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith went on paternity leave after welcoming his first child and fellow wicketkeeper Jordan Cox injured himself in camp. So Jacob Bethell, the man who had only made his senior England debut two months prior, was in line to make his test debut and was under immense pressure to impress. But boy he did as he made the joint second-quickest half century for an England player in a test scoring 50 not out after just 37 balls. The youngster nearly made his maiden senior century in the following test but unfortunately was caught off Tim Southee’s bowling on 96.
In the summer of 2025 Bethell was named as England’s youngest ever captain as England toured Ireland. In what was a very stop and go series with lots of rain delays and abandoned matches, Bethell led his side to glory without losing a game. The versatile youngster then made his maiden century in senior cricket in an ODI against South Africa where he scored 100 off just 76 balls in what was a superb innings.
Most recently the Warwickshire youth product was named in England’s 2025 Ashes squad and although he didn’t get the chance to play in the first three matches, Bethell was thrown straight into the deep end batting at three, due to Ollie Pope’s miserable campaign, and impressed again. He top scored in England’s 4 wicket victory where he scored 40 off 46 balls. Last night, he quite magnificently scored his maiden test century on the biggest stage of them all, England fans finally had something to smile about after such a horrid series where hopefully this is just the beginning for Bethell.
What a player. What a man. England’s generational talent.