Kevin Pietersen has reignited his long-standing feud with Sir Alastair Cook over his former England teammate’s criticism of Jacob Bethell in the Indian Premier League.
Bethel are not used by Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Cook urged the youngster to return to Warwickshire and play county cricket rather than “sitting around in the IPL doing nothing”.
Pietersen, who was kicked out of England’s set-up after the 2013-14 Ashes when Cook was captain, claimed the former left-handed opener’s lack of IPL experience made his decision meaningless.
“Alastair Cook has no idea what it’s like to be in the IPL,” Pietersen wrote in X.
“So his opinion of Jacob Bethel doesn’t matter at all. Jacob, please stay in India. Even if you’re not playing, you’re learning and I know you’re going to become a better player.”
Petersen later added in another X post: “If county cricket was as strong as it was in the late 90s and early 2000s, I too would like Bethel to be back playing now. But that’s not the case! England would benefit more from him being in India and he’s already shown that.”
Bethel has made strides in recent months following hundreds in the Sydney Ashes and the T20 World Cup semi-final against India, establishing himself in England’s top order across all three formats.
Bethel, who has been on the sidelines for all of RCB’s first six games, but earns around £250,000 on his contract, defended being in the IPL rather than Edgbaston.
“I strongly believe this is what I need to do now,” Bethell said on the Sky Cricket podcast.
“After the World Cup, I feel better now than I did a month ago just by having time to work on the players here and the pure standard of cricket in India and the IPL.
England’s Jacob Bethel responds to criticism over his participation in the IPL over his playing in county cricket for Warwickshire (Photo by R. Satish Babu/AFP)
“Every Nets session, there are hundreds of eyes on you, coaches and other players, thinking, ‘Is this player good or not?'” Someone in the crowd has a cell phone. You will be exposed to a lot of things. ”
Bethel, who scored 154 from third place in January after England’s disastrous tour of Australia, should be in the eleven for this summer’s first Test against New Zealand, starting at Lord’s on June 4.
If England dump Zac Crawley, he could be moved up to open batting in white-ball cricket, in which case the in-form James Lew could be selected in the middle order.
Bethel admitted he would like to remain at first drop but will do whatever he is told, and stressed that Joe Root will be moved to the opening round to accommodate Pietersen, who will return ahead of the 2013 Ashes game.
“If it were up to me, I would definitely like to stay in third place. I like this position very much,” added Bethel. “I don’t think there’s a big difference between third place and first place.
“Guys like Luthi had to start as a leadoff hitter and then sit at No. 4. So if that’s what they want me to do, I’ll be happy to do it.”
“But I like the three and would like to solidify that place as mine if possible.”
Cook: Bethell can be opened on the test side
England opener Ben Duckett recently released his contract with Derry Capitals and played for Nottinghamshire to strengthen his Test quota, but Bethel’s bid for an early exit seems a long way off.
RCB are well placed in the table and have already reached an agreement with the England and Wales Cricket Board for player acquisitions.
Cook feels Bethel showed Down Under that he can answer England’s problems in the opening game. Crawley have a clear chance of winning, but they are worried about not being able to play any cricket.
Cook said on the Stick to Cricket podcast: “I watched the top order batting, the way they played against that attack in Sydney, the way they played in those conditions, I watched the players there and I’m confident this player can open. If he can bat for three, he can open.”
“(But) it’s not ideal, isn’t it? That’s not how Bethel should be, because he hasn’t played an opener. He’s been sitting on a chair doing nothing in the IPL. Ideally, he could come back to Warwickshire and have an opener to help England.”
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Jacob Bethel hit this massive six against Nepal in the T20 World Cup, completing his half-century in just 28 balls.
However, Bethel says there is pressure in India even in net sessions outside of matches.
“You might not get as much time in the midfield as playing four rounds in the County Championship, but I think that’s going to be very important for me personally going forward in terms of my ability to actually continue to do what I want to do when there’s so much attention on me.”
“Also, when we’re not playing, we’re scheduled to have scrimmages. We know it’s not the same as a real game, but it feels like the whole team is working together, so we’re taking timeouts in the middle.”
“They know it’s going to be a team effort, a team effort to win trophies again. And Coxe (England international Jordan Cox) can’t just sit there thinking about what’s going on on the sidelines.
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Jacob Bethell insists his first England Test hundred is ‘always coming’ after scoring 142 on day four against Australia in Sydney
Bethel: I want to stay in third place.
Bethel’s sublime unbeaten 142 at the Sydney Cricket Ground was one of the few highlights of England’s 4-1 Ashes defeat over the winter.
Following his performance in Sydney, in just his sixth Test, he was hailed by manager Cook as “the future of English cricket”, but there is debate over whether Bethel should be promoted as the opening batsman, which would also free up space for Somerset wicketkeeper-batsman Lew in the squad.
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Jacob Bethell has told The Cricket Podcast that he wants to “establish himself as a three-year-old” but would be happy to open up for England if needed.
Prior to his Sydney heroics, Bethel said he had “quite a lot of faith” in his performance for England, despite question marks over his lack of a century as a professional cricketer.
“Obviously there was a lot of talk about not being in the top hundred or whatever, but I never really paid attention to that.
“I felt like I always played better against better opponents and that shows a little bit in the fact that I like playing against great teams and I like playing against good bowlers.
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Manager Nasser Hussain said after the fourth Ashes Test that England would regret not starting the series with Jacob Bethell.
“If you look at his 300 (his first international appearance in both ODIs and T20s), you’ll think, ‘That was great.’ But there are some thin spots there.
“Last year we didn’t have the best summer in England and then we finished with 100 points and then we had a low score in New Zealand before the Ashes series and we were actually a bit off.
“From the outside you might say it’s been smooth sailing, but it was good to learn how to deal with ups and downs and actually spending a year on the road.
“It’s great to have some great moments, but it just makes me hungry for more.”
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