Has Bethell's Test cricket baptism come too soon?

Jacob Bethell, 21, has been thrust into England side based on potential. Could the risk backfire, asks Cameron Ponsonby

- Cameron Ponsonby

Mike Gatting was the last specialist batter England picked who didn't have a first-class hundred at the time of his Test debut.

That was 1978 and, 46 years later, Gatting remains a cricketing household name. From a sample size of one, things bode well for Jacob Bethell - England's 21-year-old debutant, who started his Test cricket life at No 3 despite never having made a professional century nor batted in the position at any point across his career.

But delve into Gatting’s numbers and a cautionary tale emerges. After 20 Test matches, his average was 22. It took 31 matches until he scored his first century and it was only after 34 Tests that his average ticked above 30. A prodigious talent, exposed too early and learning on the job. A repeat with Bethell would be as sad as much as it would be a waste.

So it was with a deep breath when the Barbados-born left-hander walked out against New Zealand this week with only nine runs on the board and fewer than four overs bowled. It was comfortably the earliest he had come out to bat in his professional career.

The good news, at least, is that he looked the part. He fields in long sleeves, but bats in short. At the crease in Christchurch he added a sleeveless jumper to his wardrobe and sported a chunky sweatband on his right forearm. Zinc was painted in a straight line across both his cheeks and the bridge of his nose.

You don’t spend your teenage years wowing Brian Lara, Garry Sobers and Ian Bell if you don’t carry a certain aura when arriving at the crease. In a pre-series social media video posted by England, Kiwi skipper Tom Latham turns to Ben Stokes off camera and goes: “Looks like a player, eh? Bethell?”

“Yeah, yeah,” replies Stokes. “He’s good.”