Bethell late than never, but No. 3 is his to lose now

It felt like a case of "here's what you could have won" when Jacob Bethell struck 40 in England's successful chase of 175 to win the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne.

The Ashes were done in 11 days, but there was consolation on the 13th when England triumphed in Australia for the first time since January 2011. The pain since has been compounding, particularly for Joe Root, who was on a 17-match winless run in Australia - 15 of them defeats - before Saturday's long-awaited success. Test captain Ben Stokes was similarly relieved, having lost 11 of his previous 12 on these shores.

Bethell was seven and still living in Bridgetown, Barbados when England beat Australia by an innings in Sydney to cap off a historic 3-1 triumph in 2010-11. The series was a formative one for the 22-year-old, giving him a longing for Ashes cricket - and here he was savouring success with his first taste. He will grace the SCG next week as the man currently in possession of the No. 3 spot for England. Arguably, six weeks too late.

That he replaced Ollie Pope in the starting XI after Australia had retained the urn in the first three Tests added a degree of ruefulness to the situation. Pope was dropped after averaging 20.23 from six innings, a disappointing if not unsurprising return for a batter who has now lost all of his eight Ashes Tests, home and away.

Pope starting the series at first-drop was rubber-stamped after 100 and 90 in the Lilac Hill warm-up match against England Lions. In the process, he had torpedoed Bethell's seemingly waning challenge - Bethell scored 3 and 70 for the Lions - after a year devoid of regular cricket. Bethell's appearance in the fourth Test - a fifth cap - was only his fourth first-class match of 2025.

It was this time last year that conversations over whether Bethell might be a better fit at No. 3 began. Such was the impression Bethell left following his maiden Test series in New Zealand, averaging 52 across the three matches.

The circumstances around it were unusual. With Jamie Smith on paternity leave, Jordan Cox was set to keep wicket only to break his finger in the nets ahead of the first Test in Christchurch. Pope selflessly took the gloves and dropped down the order, leaving a vacancy Bethell seized. He struck three fifties in the Crowe-Thorpe Trophy, with a top score of 96 that remains his highest first-class score to date.

That Bethell did not build immediately on that first dalliance with Test cricket is the fault of the ECB. One they regretted at the end of the home summer and surely even more so now.

As one of 12 Englishman picked up in the IPL mega auction for the 2025 tournament - bought by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for £245,000 - Bethell missed the start of the County Championship season and only ended up turning out once for Warwickshire in their Division One campaign.

On a central contract, England could have called Bethell back for the one-off Zimbabwe Test. But guarantees had already been made to the BCCI that no player would be withdrawn before the completion of their respective deals. Bethell subsequently missed the four-day match at Trent Bridge, in which Pope scored struck 171 to all but secure first-drop for the summer, which he reinforced with another century in his first innings of the India series.

Bethell's return to Tests came at the Kia Oval for the fifth Test, but he looked rusty with scores of 6 and 5 - both at No. 6 - in a narrow defeat. Though he went on to register his maiden professional hundred in an ODI against South Africa, and then became England's youngest ever captain for September's T20I tour of Ireland, it was a bit-part summer for a player at a prime age for improvement through exposure. Across all domestic and international formats at home during 2025, he faced just 487 deliveries.

The limited-overs tour of New Zealand ahead of Australia passed him by, the only point of note coming on the eve of the third ODI when he and limited-overs skipper Harry Brook were filmed drinking at a bar in Wellington. Rob Key revealed the players had been warned about the incident, which was brought up again when the managing director confirmed an investigation into the scale of drinking during a four-day trip to Noosa between the second and third Ashes Tests. One of the videos to emerge from that break was of Bethell dancing in a nightclub.

It speaks to Bethell's self-confidence that he was able to shake that off and play a key role in Melbourne. "You're trying to trip me up," he joked when Triple M brought up Noosa during an interview after England's four-wicket win.

"I felt like my game was in pretty good order," Bethell said on parachuting into the series. "I've been playing a fair bit out here for the first couple of weeks of the tour [for the Lions]. So, I felt like my game was in good order. It was just about assessing and adapting to the conditions as quickly as possible which was pretty extreme in this scenario, but I'm happy with how I went."

After scoring just one in the first innings, Bethell had the added anxiety of coming in after Brydon Carse, who had been promoted to three to pinch-hit in the chase. "It was nerve-wracking batting behind Carsey knowing what his role to do was. I had my helmet on ready to go - it could have gone either way! I was ready to go in every ball."

Carse lasted just eight balls, but it did mean Bethell only faced nine before lunch upon arriving at 65 for 2, with 110 still to clear. Five deliveries in, he strode down the pitch to Scott Boland and struck a crisp four down the ground, the second of five boundaries in his innings.

The shot off Boland - all class, up there with the cover drive second ball of the second session off the same bowler, having lapped the first over the keeper for two - was the result of studious time on the sidelines. Having watched the seamer intently, Bethell arrived with a plan.

"I was just trying to get outside the line to Boland and it came straighter and kind of instinct, you drive it," he explained. "I've got three matches worth of watching and especially how he goes about it to both the Bens [Stokes and Duckett] - both the lefties.

"The mode of dismissal I felt for him was going to be through the gate bowled or lbw. So you try and negate that as much as possible."

Such precise reading of the game on the periphery makes Bethell's lack of playing time this year all the more frustrating. He is clearly a fast and willing learner.

It would be remiss to ignore the experiences further afield that were put to use. For instance, this was not Bethell's first time playing at the MCG, having struck 49 here in the Melbourne Derby for Renegades during last winter's Big Bash League. He even cited previous head-to-heads with Mitchell Starc as something that held him in good stead when coming up against the favourite for the Compton-Miller medal.

Bethell actually faced more deliveries from Starc in this Test (14) than he had previously in other formats (nine). As it happens, the two he faced in his first IPL appearance for RCB against Delhi Capitals - opening the batting as a replacement for Phil Salt who returned home for the birth of his first child - saw him whip the left-arm quick over square leg twice for boundaries, the first being a six from the top of off stump. Alyssa Healy, who is married to Starc, revealed at the time on Willow Talk that he was shocked by Bethell's talent. A crunching drive on the move through mid-off spoke to a level of comfort, even after Starc twice beat his edge comprehensively.

Bethell's second and final appearance for RCB came at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, scoring 55 off 33 in front of a partisan packed house. That, he believes, allowed him to manage the pressure of walking out in front of 92,045 fans at the MCG, at a critical juncture in the Test.

"I was pretty nervous," revealed Bethell. "Not so much with the people, just the occasion, I guess. But I've played over in India where it feels like there's 160,000 people watching. This atmosphere was incredible and it was nice to get a win and contribute.

"The IPL, I only played two games but every game and every occasion... Definitely, just knowing what I'm able to get out of myself when the situation is like that and when the atmosphere is like that. I definitely had a lot more confidence coming into this game after playing in front of, I don't know, 50,000 - which felt like 100,000 - at the Chinnaswamy."

Despite the fact that Bethell has only batted at three in an England shirt - 35 of 44 first-class innings are spread across four to nine - he feels at home in that position.

"I like three. You come in when the ball is new and in some scenarios the ball's going all over the shop," he said. "But in other scenarios it presents opportunities to score when bowlers are trying to take wickets and the field is attacking there's loads of gaps. So it's a double-edged sword but I'm enjoying it.

"I would like to [nail down the role]. I would like to just nail down any role in the team to be honest. If you're in the XI and contributing to winning I'm pretty happy with that."

Bethell dismissed suggestions the No. 3 position is now his to lose. It speaks as much to still finding his own way as respect for Pope, who looks set to be part of the collateral from this disappointing tour.

That remains in the hands of England's management. And as obvious as the decision now seems, a brains trust of Key, Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum, who pride themselves on making big calls, should have made it earlier.