Why England coaches are calling Jacob Bethell the country’s best fielder

Only two months into his international career, Jacob Bethell has already demonstrated the audacious batting that has so excited England’s selectors. There have been glimpses, too, this his left-arm spin is developing.

Yet perhaps more impressive than either Bethell’s batting and bowling has been his fielding. Privately, England’s coaching team have already described the 21-year-old as the best fielder in the country, likening him to South Africa’s Jonty Rhodes. While that claim might be premature so early in his career, Bethell has already demonstrated his relish for fielding.

Like Rhodes, Bethell gravitates towards backward point – the position that Paul Collingwood, one of England’s greatest ever fielders, made his own. That station demands players with agility, anticipation and a mastery of angles. Fielders in the position must pre-empt what shot a batsman will play to give themselves the best chance of intercepting the ball.

“In the ring – backward point, extra cover, especially extra cover to spin – you can kind of read it and get a good gauge of where the ball is going to go, and then try and anticipate, which is good fun,” Bethell explains. “Sometimes you get it wrong, and you look like an idiot when you run one way and the ball goes the other.”

Schooled in cricket thanks to Barbadian upbringing

Over his embryonic international career, England have consistently placed Bethell where they consider the most significant position in the field. For instance, in the first T20 game in Barbados, Bethell was stationed at square leg, where he took a neat, low catch at square leg to dismiss Evin Lewis.

Bethell’s dexterity in the field reflects his journey. His childhood in Barbados gave Bethell constant access to the sun and space that all young cricketers crave, whether on the beach or on fields.

“Growing up, learning the fundamentals of just catching the ball and stuff from young – it was just ingrained in me,” he explained. Bethell’s zest for being involved, in whatever capacity, meant that he was prone to first opening the bowling – he bowled left-arm seam at the time – and then donning the keeping gloves.

At Harrison College, his secondary school in Barbados, Bethell’s fitness accelerated because of a rule instigated by the then cricket coach, Corey Edwards.

“I think you had to be able to do more than 50 push-ups in a minute, you had to run a certain amount of laps around that field in 14 minutes, jumps in a certain way, sprints,” Bethell recalls. “And you couldn’t play until you could do that.”

Both in Barbados and after he moved to Rugby School aged 13, Bethell was often the smallest boy in his team. This initial disadvantage forced Bethell to hone his athleticism, before his reach increased; at 5ft 10in, he is of average height. Large hands help Bethell to intercept balls in the field.

A love of fielding accelerated his development

Yet Bethell’s most important quality in the field, perhaps, is simply his attitude.

“It’s as important a part of the game as batting or bowling,” he reflects. “I’ve always enjoyed it when I’ve been growing up and practising. A lot of people see fielding as a bit of a chore whereas I see it as something quite enjoyable. I just try to be as good as I can out there.”

“It can be quite boring if the ball is not coming to you. So I want the ball to come to me every ball, or be in a position where the ball comes more often than not.”

Such an approach has encouraged England to select Bethell – not just in white-ball cricket, but also the red-ball game, where he will be part of the Test squad for the trip to New Zealand. Unless there are injuries, Bethell is unlikely to make the team. But England will be eager to deploy Bethell as a 12th man whenever any members of the team are off the field.

Fielding was central to England’s twin World Cup victories in 2019 and 2022. The side were notably less sharp in last year’s one-day international World Cup and this year’s T20 World Cup. But the dynamism of new-generation players like Bethell and Jordan Cox suggests that, once again, England can be among the world’s best fielding sides.

Probable teams for third T20 match

England: Salt (wk), Jacks, Buttler (c), Bethell, Livingstone, Curran, Mousley, Overton, Archer, Rashid, Mahmood.
West Indies: King, Lewis, Pooran (wkt), Hetmyer, Powell (c), Rutherford, Chase, Shepherd, Motie, A Joseph, Hosein.

The third T20 match between West Indies and England gets under way in St Lucia at 8pm on Thursday and you can follow the live action here on Telegraph Sport