Bethell’s first innings at Hagley Oval (10 for 34) was the first time the Warwickshire batsman reached more than four, from a sample of just 20 first-class matches. The England management deliberated on changes, particularly with Durham goalkeeper Ollie Robinson in situ after being selected to replace the injured Jordan Cox, but decided to stay with the same team.
“Obviously he can continue and has done so before with England, but to step up in such a short time and do the job he did was fantastic. For him to score runs shows his character, putting his hand up for the team without any problem.” “And to go on to move up to number six, score so well for us and contribute to a great partnership was huge.”
“A lot of times I think the statistics that come out are purely coincidental,” Woakes said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with anything. New Zealand have very good opening bowlers. He faces the new ball when they are fresher and better, so he probably has some good balls there.
“We have seen the quality that Zak has. Opening the batting is such a difficult job to do, there will be times when you will get low scores. We have seen what Zak can do. When he comes in, he is one of the worst batsmen to play at. bowling in international cricket, I’m sure that will change.
England: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Jacob Bethell, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ollie Pope (week), 7 Ben Stokes (captain), 8 Chris Wake up, 9 Gus Atkinson, 10 Brydon Carse, 11 Shoaib Bashir
