It was 10.13pm on Friday in Barbados and while the fish fryers were doubtless cooking up a storm at Oistins, 8,600 miles away in Wellington, 3.13pm local time on Saturday, their boy, now England’s bat, was doing something similar.
Jacob Bethell, zero professional centuries to his name, was one shot away from ticking that particular box in his second Test match, at No 3. Like his family in Bridgetown, his friends in Birmingham and his supporters on the grass banks, the statisticians were poised, ready to herald England’s fourth-youngest Test centurion and, at 21 years and 45 days, their youngest since the second world war.
On a freewheeling second day, one that started out with a hat-trick for Surrey’s second-change seamer, Gus Atkinson, the sight of Bethell, Warwickshire’s semi-regular No 7, sealing three figures would have been another chef’s kiss for Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum and their unconventional selection methods this year.
It was not to be. Having worn a blow to a biceps on 90, skewed one high into no man’s land for two and then cut past gully to reach 96, Bethell went to drive the previously beleaguered Tim Southee, only to feather an edge behind. The left-hander had been breathing personally rarefied air the last of his 13 crunched boundaries eclipsing a previous first-class high of 93 – only to stumble before the summit.
The Kiwis at the ground at least had a fleeting high on an otherwise painful outing for a side tumbling down the other side of their historic 3-0 win in India. Already trailing 1-0 here, and driven to distraction (over extra-cover) by Harry Brook’s dazzling 123 on day one, the hosts were rolled for 125 in 34.5 overs first thing – their shortest Test innings at home for 30 years. By stumps, England were 378 for five, a whopping 533 runs ahead.
There was a broad sense of deflation as Bethell trudged back to the stairs of the Ewen Chatfield pavilion offering a polite, if no doubt crestfallen wave of the bat. Until the blow to the arm from the promising Will O’Rourke – one that may have unsettled him as much as the looming milestone – he had again been all swagger, not least the return of the swivel-pull that sent two early sixes over the rope.
At least there was soon to be an England teammate up there who could empathise, Southee repeating the trick to Ben Duckett – this time via a chopped inside edge on to the stumps – when the opener was on 92. Not that either near-miss damaged England’s chances of a first series win in New Zealand since 2008. Their second-wicket stand of 187 from 36.4 overs started out with the lead of 164 runs, with half-centuries for Brook (55) and Joe Root (73no) following.
Like his unbeaten 50 during the chase at Hagley Oval, these may be viewed as easy pickings for Bethell in some quarters, not least with New Zealand’s attack barely rested. But he and Duckett halted a cascade of 21 wickets in three and a half sessions with (mostly) controlled aggression. Bar Brook’s celestial eighth century, it had previously been a match for the bowlers, underlined by Atkinson becoming the 14th Englishman – and the first since Moeen Ali in 2017 – to claim a Test hat-trick.
They serve their coffees strong in Wellington but the jolt on Saturday morning when the hosts resumed on 86 for five was something else. Albeit Brydon Carse was the heavily tattooed barista initially, tickling the top of Tom Blundell’s off stump and terminating O’Rourke lbw for a 26‑ball duck to make it four wickets in the innings and 14 in the series. It has been some introduction to Test cricket this winter.
Over to Atkinson, who on a comparatively quieter tour extracted some extra bounce that had Nathan Smith playing on shouldering arms and Matt Henry fencing to gully next ball. Stokes swiftly scattered his field – three men in the deep, a single slip and gully for a cordon, short leg, plus three men hovering on the one – to suggest another short ball, only for Atkinson to spear a full and straight dart into Southee’s pads.
Stuart Broad, another hat-trick hunter, sprung to mind as Atkinson hared off in celebration and only just about remembered to turn and appeal. Even factoring in the nine, 10, jack aspect to this particular play, it represented another landmark in a year packed full of them, Atkinson having already secured a five-fer, a 10-fer and a maiden Test century since Jimmy Anderson passed the torch at Lord’s in July.
England at least catered for the supporters who prefer to view the glass as half empty when Zak Crawley fell cheaply to Henry; the sixth wicket for a cost of 45 runs inside a frenzied first hour. Coincidently, six for 45 is now the scoreline in this particular head-to-head, with Crawley’s latest effort making him the first to perish four times to a bowler in a Test series without scoring a run off them.
Crawley did nail the first two balls of the innings for four; the completion of a gloomy hat-trick of sorts for Southee, as his wonderful Test career fades to grey. But a clip to midwicket on eight made for another false dawn and more chum thrown into the waters of social media. However strong the protests, England will likely forge ahead, though, and not least without an alternative in the squad.
Personnel-wise, their picks in this year of replenishment have largely paid off. Bethell may have bumped the joke about how long it will be before they pick someone who has never played cricket – the barman whose ability to reach the top shelf hints at a high-release point, perhaps – but he has since become the latest to justify the policy.
