Why Jacob Bethell’s majestic century should shame Stokes

His family were beside themselves as they hugged each other in the stands, and his batting partner Harry Brook could hardly contain his excitement either.

Perhaps the coolest man in the SCG as Jacob Bethell ticked off his maiden first-class hundred with a shimmy down the track and a lofted four over wide mid-on was Bethell himself, his celebration as calm and collected as the superb innings which held England together on the fourth day of the fifth Test.

And it said a couple of things. One, his job was not yet done, since England had only just moved into the lead. Two, this was the first Test hundred of many.

At 22, Bethell has the composure of a man a decade older, and the self-assurance of a batsman with 20 tons already in the bag. ‘It was always coming,’ he said with a quiet smile. ‘But it’s nice to get over the milestone.’

The bare facts were impressive enough on a day when England had to contend with a groin injury to Ben Stokes and yet another moment of self-destruction, this time as Will Jacks launched his second ball into the hands of Cameron Green at deep midwicket – only yards from where he had somehow dropped Travis Head 24 hours earlier.

Bethell had walked out in the first over of his team’s second innings after Zak Crawley padded up to Mitchell Starc, and was still there 75 overs later, having contributed an unbeaten 142 to a total 302 for eight, setting up an overall lead of 119.

And it meant he was only the sixth England player to score his maiden first-class century in a Test. Of the other five, only Jack Russell added a second ton. Bethell, you sense, has only just begun.

But it was his sheer class that caught the eye. Amid all the bromides about ‘putting pressure on the opposition’, Bethell simply watched the ball and reacted accordingly, offering barely a false stroke in the 232 he had faced by stumps, and several that were sumptuous. He was upright in defence, forthright in attack. Of Bazball, there was no mention.

Commentating on Australian TV, Stuart Broad summed it up: ‘What a knock we’ve just witnessed. It’s been flawless, it’s been classy, it’s been brutal at times. Some of his strokeplay has been as good as we’ve seen from anyone.’

Cause for celebration, then, at the end of a long and often humiliating tour, but also cause for regret. This ought to have been Bethell’s 14th Test, not his sixth, after he marked his debut series a year ago in New Zealand with a trio of second-innings half-centuries that had head coach Brendon McCullum purring.

But because of the ECB’s supine arrangement with their Indian counterparts, Bethell had to remain at the IPL in May, even though he was barely getting a game with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. And that allowed Ollie Pope to bag the No 3 gig against Zimbabwe. He scored a facile 171, and the job was deemed his for the summer.

It looked a terrible call at the time, and subsequent events have not softened that judgment. Retained for the first three Ashes Tests, Pope batted with predictable skittishness and averaged 20, delaying Bethell’s entry until the MCG, where his inventive 40 made a useful dent in England’s tricky chase.

Stokes must take the blame for placing his increasingly blind loyalty in Pope in the face of all available evidence. Even when Bethell scored his first professional hundred in an ODI against South Africa at Southampton in September – a brilliant 110 off 82 balls – his claims were passed over because Pope was considered the man in possession, despite the misgivings of McCullum and managing director Rob Key.

‘I wouldn’t say it’s been frustrating,’ said Bethell. ‘But no one likes to sit on the sidelines, and I was champing at the bit to get going. I said after that hundred in the summer that it’s an addictive feeling, but nothing is comparable to this, really. It’s not really sunk in yet. To do that and have the family there was pretty special.’

It took Joe Root 16 Tests to score a hundred in Australia, and 18 to win one. Bethell has now ticked off both achievements inside a fortnight, in front of dad Graham, mum Giselle and sister Laura, and a thought occurred as he showed his senior colleagues how to make runs on a surface offering help to Australia’s part-time spinner Beau Webster.

Having already captained his country in a T20 series in Ireland, might Bethell be in the running for the Test job once Stokes finally calls it a day? No one wants to over-burden him, yet it has been clear on this trip that England’s dressing room contains more sheep than shepherds. And one of Bethell’s many qualities is an old head on young shoulders.

It was a pity the wisdom has not proved contagious. Worst of all as England slipped from a promising 219 for three to a perilous 297 for eight was the decision by Jacks to try to hit Webster for six only two balls after Australia had successfully overturned an lbw decision against Harry Brook.

With Stokes coming in down the order because of his injury, Jacks was promoted to No 6, ahead of Jamie Smith, and had to show the grit that earned him well-made 40s at Brisbane and Adelaide. Instead, he played a stroke to rank with any in England’s 2025-26 Ashes Hall of Shame.

Smith was then run out for 26 after Australia turned to the lollipop seamers of Marnus Labuschagne, who had farcically dismissed him in the first innings, and now whipped off the bails with glee after Smith was belatedly sent back by Bethell.

In some ways, Bethell’s preternatural calm felt out of place in a team who have found ever weirder and more wonderful ways to lose their wicket. And that made his performance all the more extraordinary.