Rob Key has accused English cricket of being “unbelievably conservative” and defended the decision to pick Jacob Bethell in the Test side despite the 21-year-old having barely played this season.
Bethell had played only one County Championship match, three one-day internationals, three T20 internationals and three Blast games this summer but was picked for the deciding Test of the India series at the Oval, scoring five and six as England lost the match to draw the series 2-2.
The Warwickshire player’s lack of cricket stemmed from staying with the England squad for the India series as the reserve batsman, rather than being released to play for his county. Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, described throwing a player who had faced only 67 balls in red-ball cricket all summer into the Test as “diabolical”.
Speaking on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, Key, the managing director of England men’s cricket, also defended the decision to allow Bethell to play for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League and miss the Test match against Zimbabwe in May as well as championship cricket for his county.
“That Test in those conditions was bloody tough,” Key said. “We sort of got done a little bit by the fact that championship cricket schedule didn’t fall at the right time. We tried to get Bethell to go and play the last two days of one match, which he did, and there was some Blast cricket in that period too which he went off and played. But we didn’t want to drop him — we wanted to take him as the reserve batter, the next in line — but then if he goes to play the whole of a championship match, you have to not have him as the reserve batter for the Test side, and we didn’t want to do that.
“We feel he’s the next man — the next cab off the rank. I agreed with his decision to want to play the IPL — I think we’ll get a return; we’ll get payback on his time there with those players. There was one game [during the Test series] where I think he could have gone and played the last two days of a championship game but his family had come over and he wanted to spend some time with them and we thought that was fair enough. It’s a mixture of a lot of things — sometimes you just don’t have the perfect world where they can go off and do that.”
Key believes that the English mentality towards selection, and the amount of domestic cricket players should play before making their international debut, is “too conservative”.
Bethell has been made England captain for the three-match T20 series against Ireland next month
PHILIP BROWN/GETTY
“I find the whole thing fascinating — the debate about the amount of cricket Bethell has played. I’ve always felt, watching or looking at English cricket, that we’re unbelievably conservative — that you have to have played so many red-ball games before you can play for England and that’s not necessarily the truth — look at other counties. Someone like David Warner only played a handful of games before he went and played. Steve Waugh had played something like nine games before he played for Australia, Shane Warne had played four games. Sachin Tendulkar had hardly played any first-class cricket.
“I think it’s an English thing where we think you can’t play unless you’ve served your time. I tend to think if you’re supremely talented you can get in as soon as you can and you let them try and thrive. I was talking to my son, Harrison, about the philosophy and how conservative we are sometimes in English sport — he said that Spain played a 16-year old [Lamine Yamal] in the European [Championship] final. Luke Littler won the darts at 17 — Bethell is 22. Adam Scott has his own place at 21!
“You don’t always pick young players to thrive straight away. You pick them to understand what is required at that level. Look at someone like Rehan Ahmed — he’s a better player now than when we picked him first as an 18-year-old.”
Key also gave his rationale for appointing Bethell as England captain for the three-match T20 series against Ireland next month, saying that they viewed him as part of the England “leadership” team.
“In the way the he does things, the way he carries himself, we see leadership qualities in that. You don’t want just one or two people who are captains or [have] captain potential in your side, you want loads of people. You want people like Bethell to be adding their perspective into every team they play in — it’s this — the lad has shown [plenty] of what we like, not just as a player but in everything he does.”
Key also hinted that Jofra Archer may play in the County Championship at the end of the season to keep him “ticking over” for the Ashes, having made his long-awaited return to Test cricket after a four-year absence in the series against India.
Archer could play another county match for Sussex to maintain his red-ball rhythm before the Ashes
ED SYKES/REUTERS
“It was one of the great moments of the summer when Jofra came back in and got [Yashasvi] Jaiswal out in that first over,” Key said. “I know people say he needs to play, but that return was two years in the making — planning and working it all out. We’re always going to have to be smart with him, like we are with Mark Wood. Someone like Chris Woakes, the more he played in that series, the better he got, but with Jofra you just don’t have that luxury. Jofra is someone who you need to just keep pushing him along, pull him back, push him along again. So, when the Hundred and the white-ball series against South Africa are finished, then it’s a bit of championship cricket and it’s about keeping them going so that they are able to perform at their best [come the Ashes].”
Key also used his conversation on the podcast to explain the omissions of some key white-ball players from the England squad who will play against South Africa next month — particularly the all-rounder Liam Livingstone, who appears to have fallen out of favour with England and said recently that he had not had any contact from the England management to explain why.
“I saw something the other day that Livi said he’s not heard anything since being dropped. I don’t know if he’s not got a phone — he’s allowed to ring me — he’s 32 years of age. It’s not hard, if you want to find out where you [stand], you’ve got my number, mate. But he just got to keep playing the way he has done in the Hundred this year — that’s been brilliant to see. It’s about consistency. The same with Jordan Cox — he’s on the up.”