{"id":175869,"date":"2026-06-02T08:57:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=175869"},"modified":"2026-06-02T08:57:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T14:27:45","slug":"bethell-fit-to-play-for-england-in-test-series-against-new-zealand-coach-mccullum-calls-for-refined-bazball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=175869","title":{"rendered":"Bethell fit to play for England in Test series against New Zealand; coach McCullum calls for \u2019refined\u2019 Bazball"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

England No. 3 batter Jacob Bethell is fit to play the first Test against New Zealand starting on Thursday despite having to cut short his time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) because of a finger injury on his left hand.<\/p>\n

Bethell was forced to leave eventual IPL champion Royal Challengers Bengaluru before the playoffs so he could be assessed and monitored by England\u2019s medical team ahead of the New Zealand series.<\/p>\n

England coach Brendon McCullum said on Tuesday that Bethell\u2019s finger was \u201cfine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was operating at gully in our training yesterday and he\u2019s absolutely fine, so there\u2019s no problems there,\u201d McCullum said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe should be able to bowl as well, which is quite handy for us to have another bowling option in the top order.\u201d<\/p>\n

ALSO READ<\/b> | New Zealand\u2019s Kane Williamson glad to be back at \u2018unique\u2019 Lord\u2019s<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Bethell was one of the few successes from the 4-1 loss to Australia in Ashes Down Under, making a century in Sydney in the final Test. He has played six Tests in total \u2014 averaging 43 \u2014 but only once on home soil when he batted at No. 6 and made 6 and 5 against India last year.<\/p>\n

Now he is England\u2019s No. 3, replacing Ollie Pope, but he has a lack of experience in red-ball cricket. He has played only once in England\u2019s four-day County Championship since August 2024, according to the BBC.<\/i><\/p>\n

McCullum said there\u2019d be \u201cno excuses\u201d for Bethell this summer, starting at Lord\u2019s this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis game looks in good order,\u201d McCullum said. \u201cI\u2019m sure working in India, I know it\u2019s probably not ideal from a structure point of view and maybe not getting as much red-ball games under his belt, but he has a calm head and he\u2019s a very methodical preparer in terms of the mental side of the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCullum and England captain Ben Stokes stayed in their roles after the Ashes despite calls for change because of problems on and off the field.<\/p>\n

McCullum was asked on Tuesday what England fans can expect of his chastened team in the Test series against the Kiwis and Pakistan when \u201cBazball\u201d will be under scrutiny.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe still want to be recognisable from the past,\u201d he said, \u201cbut we just want to hopefully be a cricket team which has evolved somewhat in some of the key areas where we\u2019ve identified that we\u2019ve fallen short previously. We want to be a team that is better under pressure, a team that can navigate tactically, that can understand where you sit in the game and what\u2019s required. We still want the identity of the past,\u201d he added, \u201cbut we want a more refined version of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Published on Jun 02, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

England No. 3 batter Jacob Bethell is fit to play the first Test against New Zealand starting on Thursday despite having to cut short his time in the Indian Premier League (IPL) because of a finger injury on his left hand. Bethell was forced to leave eventual IPL champion Royal Challengers Bengaluru before the playoffs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":175870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-175869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1780410466_image2010.jpg","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":173288,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=173288","url_meta":{"origin":175869,"position":0},"title":"England expects Jacob Bethell to be fit for New Zealand opener","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"May 27, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"England said on Wednesday that they expect Jacob Bethell to be fit for next week\u2019s first Test against New Zealand at Lord\u2019s after the top-order batsman suffered a finger injury playing in the Indian Premier League. The left ring finger injury prompted the 22-year-old to cut short his IPL campaign\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP01_07_2026_000087A.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP01_07_2026_000087A.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP01_07_2026_000087A.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP01_07_2026_000087A.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AP01_07_2026_000087A.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":171487,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=171487","url_meta":{"origin":175869,"position":1},"title":"IPL 2026 \u2014 RCB announces Jacob Bethell to return to England after sustaining injury","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"May 23, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"England international Jacob Bethell\u2019s IPL 2026 campaign has come to an early end, his team Royal Challengers Bengaluru announced on Saturday. \u201cJacob Bethell has sustained an injury to his left ring finger during Royal Challengers Bengaluru\u2019s match against Punjab Kings. Following medical assessment, Jacob will return to England for further\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sports"","block_context":{"text":"Sports","link":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/India_IPL_Cricket__4442.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/India_IPL_Cricket__4442.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/India_IPL_Cricket__4442.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/India_IPL_Cricket__4442.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newslink360.space\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/India_IPL_Cricket__4442.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":174256,"url":"https:\/\/newslink360.space\/?p=174256","url_meta":{"origin":175869,"position":2},"title":"IRE vs NZ, one off Test: Tickner strikes as New Zealand thrashes Ireland ahead of England series","author":"Ajay Kumar Verma","date":"May 29, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Blair Tickner took his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket as New Zealand hammered Ireland by an innings and 79 runs in a one-off match in Belfast on Friday. 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