Jacob Bethell Makes History with Century in Ashes Test
Historic Achievement at Sydney Cricket Ground
Sydney, Jan 7: England's young batter Jacob Bethell, aged 22, made a remarkable entry into the record books by scoring a century during the final Test of the Ashes series at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Wednesday. This achievement makes him the second youngest player to score a century in this historic rivalry.
Bethell stepped into the No. 3 batting position, taking over from Ollie Pope, who had been struggling throughout the series. When Bethell arrived at the crease in England's second innings, the team was already down a wicket, having lost opener Zak Crawley on the fifth ball, and was trailing Australia by 179 runs.
He initially formed an 81-run partnership with Ben Duckett, who scored 39 runs before being dismissed in the 20th over. After the quick exit of Joe Root, Bethell then partnered with vice-captain Harry Brook to build a solid 100-run partnership.
He reached his first Test century off 162 balls, hitting a slog over wide long-on to mark the milestone. At 22 years and 78 days, he became the second-youngest player to score an Ashes century in the 21st century, following former England captain Alastair Cook, who achieved this at 21 in 2006.
This century also made Bethell the first England No. 3 to score an Ashes hundred in 14 years, since Jonathan Trott. Since 2001, only Michael Vaughan and Mark Butcher have scored centuries while batting at No. 3 in this series.
In his five Test matches, Bethell has accumulated 312 runs at an average of 34.66 across 10 innings, along with 1,172 runs in first-class cricket.
However, England faced a setback on Day 4 when captain Ben Stokes left the field early due to a right adductor issue. Stokes bowled only 10 deliveries before experiencing discomfort in his groin and exited during the 28th over of Australia’s second innings. Although he returned to bat in the second innings, scoring just one run off five balls, it remains unclear if he will bowl again as Australia chases the target.