Spinning all-rounder who Brian Lara identified aged 11

Jacob Bethell was only 11 when Brian Lara identified him as one of the finest young batsmen in the Caribbean. The great West Indian was considering a coaching career and, having watched Bethell bat, paid him the ultimate compliment. “You are better than I was when I was 11,” Lara said.
Now, as England try to move on from the golden generation that won the 2019 World Cup and the 2022 T20 World Cup, Bethell, 20, is one of two spinning all-rounders in England’s white-ball squads to face Australia in three T20s and five ODIs next month, along with his Warwickshire and Birmingham Phoenix team-mate Dan Mousley, 23.
Bethell and Mousley both made their mark for Phoenix in this year’s Hundred and both are left-handed batsmen who bowl spin — off spin in Mousley’s case, while Bethell is an orthodox left-armer — but they have followed distinct paths on their way to the England squad.
Bethell has been on England’s radar for some time. He was born in Barbados but came to England aged 12 on a sports scholarship to Rugby School. There, he developed under the coaching of the former Warwickshire captain Michael Powell, as well as in Warwickshire’s age-group sides. He returns regularly to Barbados, where his father, Graham, and most of his family live. The West Indies influence is clear in the way the left-handed middle-order batsman plays — with flair, character, aggression and innovation.
It was a big move for someone so young. He describes leaving his family behind as “daunting”, but says it is probably “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made”.
Bethell maintained his West Indies ties and played a number of games for Barbados Under-15 before committing his future to England and concentrating on his progression in county cricket, as well as playing club cricket with Kenilworth Wardens in the Birmingham league.
In Barbados he spent time with Sir Garfield Sobers, who used to play alongside his grandfather, and he comes from a line of talented cricketers. His father was an exceptional top-order batsman who played for Sheffield Collegiate for years, dominating the Yorkshire league averages at the time. That Sheffield Collegiate team also included Matt Root, father of Joe, and the young Michael Vaughan and Richard Kettleborough, now an international umpire.
Bethell was given his first professional contract by Warwickshire at the start of 2021, aged 17, and made his professional debut in the T20 Blast later that year.
But it was at the Under-19 World Cup in 2022 that he rose to prominence. England reached the final of that tournament and Bethell was instrumental in steering them into the semi-finals and then the final, blasting 88 from 42 balls against South Africa in the quarter-finals.
From there, he got a contract with Welsh Fire in the Hundred but impressive performances in the T20 Blast led to him being picked up in the draft by his home franchise, Phoenix, for £30,000.
At first glance his statistics do not stand out — he has only seven T20/Hundred wickets and averages 23 in 44 matches in the Blast and Hundred. But England no longer select purely on county performances: potential and a high ceiling are among the factors they are looking at and they judge Bethell’s ceiling to be incredibly high. He has proven he can turn games on their head, such as when he hit 56 off 16 balls and claimed two wickets for Birmingham Bears against Northamptonshire in the T20 Blast in June.
It is not only England who have spotted his talent. Bethell now has a contract with the South African franchise Paarl Royals in the SA20 competition for early 2025. Teams in the Australian Big Bash League are keen for him to play a short stint there before England duties next year and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he secured an IPL contract in the player auction this year.
For one so young, Bethell is incredibly mature and driven. He has ambitions to play in all formats for England, but it is in limited-overs cricket that he is getting his opportunities at the moment.
Mousley, on the other hand, is West Midlands through and through — as is clear from his accent — having grown up in Nether Whitacre near Birmingham.
Like Bethell, he has played for Warwickshire since his teenage years, as well as club cricket in the Birmingham league. Besides his aggressive, fearless batting, Mousley is a distinctive off spinner. With an average speed of about 65mph, he bowls quickly for a spinner, and in Phoenix’s victory over London Spirit in this year’s Hundred he bowled a 75mph bouncer to the West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell. He has also had some exposure to the pressures of T20 franchise cricket, having played for both MI Emirates in the ILT20 in the UAE and Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League.
He caught the eye in this year’s Hundred by bowling a wonder spell against Trent Rockets in which he took three wickets for only three runs to give Phoenix an unlikely victory.
Although Mousley is earmarked for the middle order for England, he has been batting in the top three for Warwickshire, having been a top-order batsman through his early career and spent the first part of the year badgering the Warwickshire captain, Alex Davies, for promotion up the order. Mousley is a genuine all-rounder and this year took 13 wickets in the Blast, conceding only 6.81 runs an over.
Bethell and Mousley are team-mates and good friends, and are now part of the new generation — it’s been a long time since an England squad included a Warwickshire spinning all-rounder who wasn’t Moeen Ali, and now there’s two of them.