"But batters are usually expected to have tasted three figures in a first-class game before they get the nod, with Mike Gatting the last England batter not to have done so before his debut on a tour of Pakistan in 1978, aged 20."
"Even on the surface, Bethell’s first-class statistics (average of 25.44 and a highest score of 93) barely imply he should be considered for Test cricket, let alone as a number 3."
"England see something special in a left-hander with a strong back-foot game... and a whippet in the field... There has been a longstanding, almost universal view within the game that he is destined for the top."
"Ian Bell once called him the best 17-year-old he had seen; Brian Lara saw Bethell when he was 11 and said he was much better than most at that age."
Collection
[
|
...
]