The selection of the Bethell in a position of such responsibility is a reflection of the selectors’ regard for his talent. He made his T20I and ODI debuts against Australia at the end of the home summer, and impressed out in the Caribbean with three half-centuries across both formats on that white ball tour. He subsequently earned his maiden IPL gig with a £245,000 deal with Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday.
Nevertheless, the 21-year-old remains an unknown quantity in first-class cricket. He averages 25.44 from 30 innings, with just five half-centuries, none of which have come higher than No. 5. A career-best score of 93 came against Nottinghamshire in April. He will be come the first specialist batter to play Test cricket for England without a first-class century since Mike Gatting in 1978.
Bethell only arrived in New Zealand on Sunday after time off at home following the West Indies series. As a result, he did not play any part in the two-day tour match against the New Zealand Prime Minister’s XI.
In a year of left-field selections from England, this might rank as one on the outer reaches of that spectrum. Particularly given Root, with his wealth of experience, could have performed the role. While Ben Stokes has been keen to allow England’s leading Test run-scorer the comfort of batting No. 4 throughout his tenure as captain, it is worth noting Root’s 262 against Pakistan last month came at three.
Despite a green seamer expected at Hagley Oval, England have chosen to persist with Shoaib Bashir as their spinner, with Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse the out-and-out seamers, and Stokes as the all-round option.
England XI for first Test: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ollie Pope (wk), 7 Ben Stokes (capt), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Gus Atkinson, 10 Brydon Carse, 11 Shoaib Bashir
