Bethell returns as England select Thomas Rew and Eddie Jack for Australia white-ball tour
Jacob Bethell will return to England's white-ball squad for the tour of Australia, and Thomas Rew and Eddie Jack have received their first international call-ups, with the trip opening with the first ODI in Perth on 13 November.
Bethell has not played since suffering a knee injury in July but is included in what England describe as a near-full-strength side for three one-day internationals, while England have made changes for the five T20s and will rest several players ahead of the Test tour of South Africa. The selections hand opportunities to 18-year-old Somerset wicketkeeper-batter Thomas Rew and 21-year-old Hampshire pace bowler Eddie Jack as England rotate for the T20 leg.
England's one-day squad is: Harry Brook (Yorkshire – captain), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Gus Atkinson (Surrey), Sonny Baker (Hampshire), Tom Banton (Somerset), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Jordan Cox (Essex), Henry Crocombe (Surrey), Sam Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire). Jofra Archer returns to the ODI pace attack after being rested for the tri-series in Pakistan in October, and the squad is close to full strength apart from the absence of wicketkeeper Jos Buttler, who remains sidelined following hamstring surgery.
England's T20 squad is: Harry Brook (Yorkshire – captain), Tom Banton (Somerset), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), James Coles (Sussex), Jordan Cox (Essex), Henry Crocombe (Surrey), Sam Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Aneurin Donald (Derbyshire), Eddie Jack (Hampshire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Thomas Rew (Somerset), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Luke Wood (Lancashire). After the ODI series, seamers Archer, Gus Atkinson, Josh Tongue and Sonny Baker, together with batter Ben Duckett, will not feature in the T20s as they prepare for the South Africa tour, while Aneurin Donald retains his place after making his debut in the series against Sri Lanka last month.
Rew averages 68 in four first-class matches for Somerset and 44 in List A cricket, and has a T20 strike-rate of 153. He does not turn 19 until 29 November; if selected to play on the tour he would become the third-youngest man to make his England debut in any format after Rehan Ahmed and Brian Close and the youngest man to play for England against Australia. Rew is the younger brother of James Rew, who made his Test debut for England against New Zealand at The Oval in June; Thomas captained England Under-19s to the final of the World Cup earlier this year and recorded two centuries for Somerset in the County Championship during the summer.
Eddie Jack, who has the middle name Vaughan after former England captain Michael Vaughan, has been on England's radar since last year and is one of only three specialist fast bowlers in the touring party, increasing the likelihood of a debut in Australia. Both Rew and Jack were awarded development central contracts on Monday. Uncapped Henry Crocombe is included for both series after earning a two-year central contract on Monday, while Luke Wood is named in the T20 squad despite losing his central deal.
Bethell's inclusion in both squads is noted as an indication of the selection dilemmas England will face for the Test series in South Africa: during the left-hander's absence for the home Test series against Pakistan, Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox and Dan Lawrence were all drafted into the England XI, and Bethell's comeback could displace any one of that trio. Harry Brook will captain England across both legs of the tour and is expected to play in every game during the winter; he has not missed an international since a group of players were rested for the T20 series in Ireland last September. The tour will also be Brook's first return to Australia since a nightclub incident in Wellington last October was revealed on the final day of the Ashes series in January, a period when England's players faced intense scrutiny over off-field misdemeanours.
The first T20 is scheduled for the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 21 November and the tour concludes with the final T20 in Canberra on 2 December, a week before England's warm-up match in South Africa that precedes a three-Test series. There will be live ball-by-ball commentary from every match of England's tour of Australia on Test Match Special.