Bethell says he should have ‘played more’ in 2025

England international cricketer Jacob Bethell said he “probably should have played a little more” during his first test series there.

Bethell, age 21, impressed in his first Test match last winter, but he has only been in a small part this summer.

He was the backup batter for England’s Test XI for the first four games against India before making his fifth appearance since missing the one-time Test against Zimbabwe while playing for the Indian Premier League.

Questions surround England’s handling of the talented left-hander as he only played one County Championship game between those two and has only faced 387 balls in all formats this summer compared to 1, 480 in 2024.

Bethell told Sky Sports, “If I’m honest, I should have played a little more domestic cricket when I wasn’t playing those Tests.”

With six and five in his two innings against India, Bethell, who will lead England’s youngest captain, will take over as captain when he leads an under-strength squad in Ireland later this month.

Before returning to England duty in the one-day international series against South Africa, he first appeared in full on The Hundred for Birmingham Phoenix.

After being pushed up to number four in the first game at Headingley, Bethell struggled to recover after being forced out for one in the first match at Headingley.

Bethell remarked, “I really enjoyed it.”

“It wasn’t planned until a few minutes before,” he said.

It was my job as a left-hander to go out and show some intent to them, but it ended up being the off-spinner I found the easiest to play because they had two left-arm spinners.