GarlicJam wrote:what is the go with this fellow Bethel?
Why is his selection so polarising/controversial?
Mainly because he has a FC average of 25 and just 5 fifties from 30 innings altogether in red ball cricket. He has looked pretty handy in a few appearances with the white ball team , though generally batting in the middle - in fact I am not sure he has ever batted three in his life; so tossing him in there now in his first Test looks like the ultimate "wild card punt" selection. Pretty sure they had no intention of playing him in NZ , certainly not at three : but with Cox suffering his ill timed injury and no reserve keeper or other spare bat in the party they've now decided to make a virtue of necessity and spin this as a bold choice.
Will be interesting to see how he handles it . There is certainly talent there ; but I do question this insistence on plucking players out of relative obscurity on the basis of hunches and a bit of limited over stuff rather than picking those who have actually achieved pretty solid records in the FC game - and who are used to occupying the positions that need filling. If he fails badly , will they double down anyway and try to fit him in somewhere else - or discard him after only having seen him in an unsuitable role ?
They will say that they've "seen something" ; and that some other surprise selections have borne fruit. I'd be less certain of the latter point : Bashir did quite well in India , for example ; but has frankly struggled a bit subsequently , although they are persisting with him ahead of Jack Leach. But Hartley seems to have been discarded rather abruptly , Rehan is in and out. Seems to me those introduced who have had immediate success which has lasted more than a few games (Smith , Atkinson ) had rather more in the way of county form to justify their spots. And we won't even speak about Hull ...
Anyway good luck to the lad. He might need it.
