Rising star Jacob Bethell takes England captaincy in his stride

"I like it when things come at a fast pace," Jacob Bethell said with a grin, as he prepared to become England's youngest-ever captain on Wednesday. It is just as well.

It was a year ago last week that Bethell made his England debut, feeling "very nervous" as he walked out for a T20 international against Australia in Southampton. Twelve months, 34 caps, nine half-centuries and a maiden hundred later, he will break a record that has stood since 1889 when he goes for the toss in Malahide to lead his country against Ireland at the age of 21.

It is the latest show of faith in a young man who England's management clearly view as a future superstar. Bethell's captaincy experience is limited to "a bit at school", seven games for England Under-19s and a handful more for Warwickshire's second team, but he will lead a senior side featuring two double-World Cup winners in Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid this week.

He has long been seen as a leader, dating back to his time in charge of England's Under-19s. Bethell's schooling, moving from Barbados to the UK to board at Rugby School, and his early entry into professional cricket have contributed to a sense that he is more mature than most of his peers, the direct result of his accelerated development.

England's logic for giving Bethell the role is simple enough. Harry Brook, their permanent white-ball captain, is among several multi-format linchpins rested for this series, and there is little point handing the reins back to Buttler for a three-match, end-of-season tour. Perhaps only Phil Salt, who led England against Australia last year, could feel hard done by to be overlooked.

Bethell has not explicitly been told why he was chosen, but has his suspicions. "It's maybe just a bit of trust," he said on Tuesday, in his first captain's press conference. "Another aspect might be, just chuck me in the deep end and see how I go. It will be nice to see how I go under pressure - I'm sure the guys that have made those decisions would like to see that as well."

He learned of his elevation from Brendon McCullum in a phone call last month. "When I found out, the first emotion was pride," Bethell said. "The feeling is excitement [with] a few nerves kicking around, both from wanting to lead the boys well, and get a win under our belt." Asked to describe what type of captain he will be, he joked: "A very young one."

That sense was accentuated on Tuesday when he posed with the series trophy alongside his opposite number, Paul Stirling, who at 35 is a veteran of more than 150 T20 international caps. They are well-acquainted from a season opening the batting for Warwickshire together in the T20 Blast three years ago, and Bethell clearly left an impression despite a lean campaign.

"He was a superstar," Stirling recalled. "You could see the talent there when he must've been 18 years old. His ball-striking was so noticeable that it was world-class already. To see where he's got to already in his career is no surprise to me… I know how talented he is, and I'm not surprised at all that he's here under a leadership capacity."

Bethell believes that his primary responsibility as a captain will be to "manage people" while working with stand-in head coach Marcus Trescothick. "Not every tactical decision you make is going to work," he said. "It's about managing the boys well so they feel you're backing them. That's something I'll look to take forward in however many games I end up captaining in my career."

He has admired Ben Stokes' leadership of England's Test team - "he leads by example, with actions and performances" - and intends to follow suit. Bethell's recent form - including a maiden hundred against South Africa nine days ago - has been timely, removing the simmering disquiet in some quarters around his hasty promotion to the captaincy.

Bethell said that he has taken confidence from that innings of 110 off 82, even if he did not see it as a breakthrough moment. "It was a nice feeling, and almost one that feels quite addicting. Hopefully, I can get myself used to raising the bat. Once you do it once, you've got the confidence to go on and do it again and again, so I think it's definitely given me that."

That innings came from No. 4 in England's ODI team, and he was promoted to No. 3 in last week's T20Is against South Africa. "It's kind of moulding two positions into one: you've got the back-end of the powerplay, and then what I'm used to in the middle order," he said, adding with another grin: "I think as high up the order as possible is pretty good."

Further success this week - albeit in a different format - will only prompt more speculation about the prospect of him forcing his way into England's team for the first Ashes Test in Perth on November 21. "My head's firmly screwed on to this series," he said. "The squad's not even selected for that yet, so hopefully I'm going to be there."

There is little doubt that he will be - just as there are few who would predict that his first series as England's captain will be his last.