England batter Jacob Bethell made a statement hundred in the team’s final innings of a gruelling Ashes 2025-26 tour at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday, becoming one of the youngest ever to record a ton in the iconic rivalry.
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Taking over the No. 3 spot from the out-of-form Ollie Pope, Bethell bettered his previous best of 96 to record his maiden Test century in 162 balls, reaching the landmark with a slog through wide long-on.
Aged 22 years and 78 days, the southpaw became the second youngest batter to record an Ashes hundred in the 21st century, only behind former England captain who cracked a century at Perth in 2006 at 21 years and 357 days of age. With the No. 3 woes protracting in this series after Pope failed to record a fifty-plus score in six successive innings, Bethell was drafted in for the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, where he returned scores of 1 and 40.
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The ongoing Test is the fifth for Bethell at the position. His century also made him the first England No. 3 in 14 years since Jonathan Trott to slam an Ashes century. Former skipper Michael Vaughan and Mark Butcher are the only other batters who have scored a century from No. 3 in the Ashes since 2001.
An RCB impact
During the Melbourne Test, Bethell had credited his IPL stint with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru for helping him handle the pressure of an Ashes debut.
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With Bethell chipping in with a handy 40, England chased down 175 on the second day of the Test to record their first win on Australian shores after more than 14 years. They snapped an 18-match winless run on Australian soil.
“I was pretty nervous. Not so much with the people, just the occasion, I guess. But I’ve played over in India where it feels like there’s 160,000 people watching. This atmosphere was incredible and it was nice to get a win and contribute,” he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. “The IPL, I only played two games but every game and every occasion… Definitely, just knowing what I’m able to get out of myself when the situation is like that and when the atmosphere is like that.
“I definitely had a lot more confidence coming into this game after playing in front of, I don’t know, 50,000 – which felt like 100,000 – at the Chinnaswamy.”
Bethell played just two games for RCB in the last edition that the franchise won for the first time in 17 years, producing a 55 off 33 against Chennai Super Kings in the second match at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.