The Ashes: England's Jacob Bethell on batting at No 3, how IPL made him a better player and 'nightmare' cricket schedule

Jacob Bethell explained why he wants to bat at No 3 for England and how the IPL made him a better player as he sat down with Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain ahead of the final Ashes Test in Sydney.

Bethell returned to the England XI in place of Ollie Pope for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, a game the tourists won inside two days to snap an 18-match, 15-year winless streak in Australia.

The 22-year-old was dismissed for one batting at No 3 in the first innings and then made 40 from 46 balls at No 4 in the second, having been shunted down a spot with bowler Brydon Carse promoted up the order in a maverick move.

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Bethell is set to return to first drop at the SCG as England look for back-to-back victories.

You don’t get any looseners from Australia, they are relentless. They are not going to miss so you have to create a scoring area. Not recklessly, but put them off a bit more.

Former England batter Mark Ramprakash wrote in the Guardian recently that he was "frustrated" to see Bethell so high up the order in Melbourne, rather than given the chance to settle in lower down.

But the man himself told Sky Sports: "I don't believe in that 'young players should come in in the middle order'.

"I want to be a top-order batter throughout my career and if I want to do it at some stage then why not now? I feel my game and mindset is suited to batting up the order.

"There will be learnings and things I figure out as I do it more and more but I like it.

"You have the best bowlers bowling at a favourable time for them but it also creates scoring options, especially over here in Australia when that Kookaburra ball gets soft and it can be hard to score.

I have social media but in and around games I stay off it. I don’t really need praise when I do well and I know people will probably critique something if I’m struggling. I have just gone on how I have felt and how the most important people around the group have felt. I will try and keep it that way as long as possible.

"When they have four catchers behind the wicket and lots of gaps, it is nice to bat.

"That zone in Test matches of you versus the bowler for a long period of time is not something I have mastered yet by any means - I am looking to get much better at that."

'IPL helped me deal with big occasion at MCG'

There was criticism in the summer when Bethell, having scored three half-centuries in as many Test in his debut series in New Zealand last winter, was not recalled from an IPL stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru in order to play against Zimbabwe.

The left-hander only featured twice for eventual champions RCB but took a great deal from his time in India and feels that helped him cope performing in front of a crowd of over 90,000 at the MCG.

Bethell added: "Once you are selected for the IPL you are not allowed to be pulled back and that experience I had over those two months - I was a much better cricketer than when I arrived.

"Learning from Virat Kohli, [coach] Andy Flower and [team director] Mo Bobat. Even facing unbelievable net bowlers all the time. You have different conditions at every ground.

"I know I only played two games but the learnings I got from the cauldron of India and the IPL were priceless.

"You had 50,000 people in Bengaluru and it feels like 150,000. I am not going to say it felt the same, the MCG is obviously bigger, but I know what I am able to get out of myself in times like that. In a big occasion, I knew I could keep things the same."

'Matches matter - but format not so much'

Bethell only played four first-class games in 2025 and believes he "tapered off" after the IPL, something he has vowed to learn from.

The batter, retained by RCB for the 2026 IPL season, is looking to play more regular cricket this year but will not get caught up in what format that is.

Bethell concluded: "The scheduling is a nightmare but in terms of adapting to each format I think my game is pretty suited to all of them if my mind is in the right place.

"If I want to play all three formats for a long time I need to keep the body fit and make sure my mind is on in terms of switching between them seamlessly.

"Batting in matches is massive. You will never get the replication of that in the nets, there is not pressure there like there is in a game.

"I do feel when I stop playing games that it takes me a little while to get back into game readiness. But I don't think the format matters as much as not much changes in my technique. It's games, games, games.

"The shorter the game, the faster things happen and then when you do go into red-ball cricket you are in for longer periods - when it's not doing all the stuff it did in Melbourne!"

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Any way back for Pope in England Test team?

Sky Sports Cricket's Michael Atherton on Ollie Pope:

"I am not a fan of Pope at No 3 but I think he could come back into the team lower down the order in time.

"I don't mean he should have an easy route back in but I don't believe any team is good enough to write someone off completely.

"You can always improve as a player even after you have played a lot of Test matches."

Ashes series in Australia 2025-26

Australia lead five-match series 3-1

• First Test (Perth): Australia won by eight wickets
• Second Test (Brisbane): Australia won by eight wickets
• Third Test (Adelaide): Australia won by 82 runs
• Fourth Test (Melbourne): England won by four wickets
• Fifth Test (Sydney): Sunday January 4 - Thursday January 8