Jacob Bethell century offers England rare hope amid Ashes despair in Sydney

Just as this England side plunge you into a pit of despair – Day Three at the SCG seemed like the nadir of a disappointment-riddled tour – they offer a tantalising glimpse of what might have been. Perhaps that is even more frustrating than if they had just capitulated in the Day 4 Sydney heat as most expected.

Make no mistake England are heading to their fourth defeat of a massively underwhelming series. They have been outfought and out-thought by an Australian side that didn’t even have to be at their best to beat them. However they can at least take one crumb of optimism back with them on the long flight home.

That hope comes in the form of Jacob Bethell, who has announced the manifestation of the talent that so many have seen in him and almost single-handedly carried England into a fifth day of this Test.

A long-awaited solution at No. 3

Number three has been a problem position for England since the days of Jonathan Trott – not coincidentally the last man to score an Ashes hundred at first drop, over 15 years ago. Ollie Pope has shouldered the responsibility manfully over recent years, but there has never really been the suggestion that it was truly the position for him – an early skittishness in innings always made him seem vulnerable there and more suited to a comfier berth a little down the order.

Now they hope they have found the long term solution. These are of course early days, days in which the temptation is always to get carried away with dreams of perfect futures, but this – only England’s third century of a dismal sojourn down under – is cause for hope.

Bethell was, to put it mildly, something of a gamble when first selected for England in 2024. With only 20 first-class games and no hundreds under his belt, it was a punt on talent forecasted rather than truly shown. Now to the delight of England fans and selectors alike, there is proof of concept.

Much has been made of Bethell’s lack of a first-class hundred, after all it is an easy beating stick to brandish, but little of his early forays in the England Test side have suggested that his selection was a mistake.

Bethell shines amid England’s Ashes struggles

Bethell already has a Test match 96 on his resume, secured in just his second Test, now 142 not out overnight, he averages 46.40 after six Tests and has that much discussed maiden first class century. For what it’s worth, Kumar Sangakkara didn’t make a first class hundred until his 10th Test match for Sri Lanka.

Despite coming up in a team whose usual modus operandi is at best aggressive and daring and at worst brainless, Bethell batted with maturity and serenity in the SCG sunshine. He scored all round the wicket, but particularly productively flicking the ball off his pads – the odd play and miss aside it was essentially as chanceless innings.

About the only time he looked ill at ease was approaching three figures, seven balls spent on 99, 23 in the 90s. However the 24th saw him skip down the track and launch Beau Webster over long on, perhaps his only true moment of aggression all day, deployed only when necessary to drag him the last few inches over the three figure line.

It is a knock that will undoubtedly join the healthy pantheon of pyrrhic English Test hundreds in otherwise comprehensive defeats, but it took England to 302/8 at the close – a lead of 119.

It is only the fifth time England have managed to make 300 in both innings since 1947, for the optimism junkies unable to give up all hope of a ludicrous English comeback, they have never lost when doing so. That run surely ends tomorrow.