Whatever Stokes said or meant to say at Trent Bridge, he ultimately confirmed the battle for a place in the Test side is between Bethell and Ollie Pope.
England have plenty of justification for sticking with Pope. He has just made a century, is Stokes’ vice-captain, has a good record at number three and has been willing to be versatile over the past 12 months. Bethell is a strong option to hold in reserve in case Pope or Zak Crawley struggle, England feel they don’t need Shoaib Bashir as a frontline spinner or another injury hits Stokes.
On the other hand, England under Stokes and McCullum have not shirked big selection decisions. Alex Lees, Jack Leach, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes were all moved on when they might have had reason to think they had not done a great deal wrong.
Further back, in the build-up the 2005 Ashes, perhaps the last time when a period of Test cricket felt so defining for an England team, they were faced with a decision between the late Graham Thorpe and Kevin Pietersen.
Thorpe had just reached 100 Test caps and his form was solid. Captain Michael Vaughan went for the flair of the uncapped Pietersen. The rest is history.
Perhaps it does not matter when England decide to pull the trigger on Bethell’s Test inclusion. It will come sooner or later.
“He’s a confident lad,” said Brook. “He knows he’s a good player and we all know he’s an exceptional player. He’s going to have a very long England career if he keeps on batting the way he does.
“He brings so much to a side, he can bowl and field as well. To have a player like him in our side, for him to only be 21 and play the way he is, he’s only going to go upwards if he keeps working hard on his game.”
Bethell will not be England’s coming man for long. An arrival is due.
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