England name all-round prospect Jacob Bethell as the youngest ever national men’s team captain for a T20 series with Ireland
Jacob Bethell will become the youngest ever player to captain an England men’s team in international cricket after he was named skipper for the Twenty20 series against Ireland.
The 21-year-old allrounder, who has starred for Melbourne Renegades in the BBL, has represented England in 29 matches across all formats and will lead the team in the absence of the regular Test players, who have been rested for the three-match series in Dublin next month.
“Jacob Bethell has impressed with his leadership qualities ever since he has been with the England squads and the series against Ireland will provide him with the opportunity to further develop those skills on the international stage,” England selector Luke Wright said in a statement.
Bethell’s previous experience as captain has been with England Under-19s and Warwickshire’s second XI. He has never captained at full senior level.
“It was obviously a great news to hear,” Bethell told BBC Sport.
“The feeling was that of pride at first. It’s not really sunk in yet. It’s only been a few hours.
“I am looking forward to it and it’ll be a huge honour to lead the team against Ireland.
“I do try and lead by example but coming into the team as a youngster, you sometimes feel like it doesn’t really have much of an impact.
“But it’s nice to see they believe in what I can do and hopefully, I can go out and show that I can.”
While younger players captained England sides against county opponents in the 1800s, the current youngest captain for an international match is Monty Bowden, who was 23 years and 144 days old when England played South Africa in Cape Town in 1889.
Bethell will be 21 years and 329 days old when the first T20 in Dublin rolls around.
The series in Ireland will follow England’s tour of South Africa for three one-day internationals and three T20 matches, starting on September 2.
Right-arm fast bowler Sonny Baker has earned his first national team call-up for the ODIs against South Africa after the 22-year-old impressed selectors with his performance for England Lions and in domestic cricket.
England will travel to New Zealand in October for a white-ball tour, followed by the eagerly awaited five-Test series in Australia from November.
Fast bowler Mark Wood is another targeting the Ashes trip after he was left out of all of the white-ball squads named overnight, having not played since February after knee surgery.
Wood had been aiming to return in the fifth Test against India earlier this month before a setback.
While England’s propriety for Wood is the Ashes, his recovery is taking longer than expected.
Bowler Gus Atkinson has also been left out, while England have also not found room for centrally contracted allrounders Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone.
England ODI Squad v South Africa: Harry Brook (c), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jamie Smith.
England T20 Squad v South Africa: Harry Brook (c), Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, Brydon Carse, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Luke Wood.
England T20 Squad v Ireland: Jacob Bethell (c), Rehan Ahmed, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jos Buttler, Liam Dawson, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Luke Wood
