England's Bethell hits maiden test century as family watch on
England youngster Jacob Bethell cracked a maiden century Wednesday in the fifth Ashes test against Australia to cement himself as a star of the future.
The 22-year-old powered to his hundred in style off 162 balls in Sydney, raising his bat towards his emotional family in the stands.
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Remarkably, it was not just a maiden test ton but the only one he has scored in red-ball cricket, with his previous best 96 against New Zealand.
SMASHED TO THE FENCE! 🤩
A FIRST TEST CENTURY FOR JACOB BETHELL!! 💯 pic.twitter.com/dh2cYYkvxE — England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 7, 2026
Bethell made his debut against New Zealand in Christchurch in late 2024, crunching half-centuries in each of the three tests during the series after incumbent No 3 Ollie Pope slid down the order.
His progress was then hampered by injury and Pope hitting form back at three.
The sixth England player to score their first first-class hundred in a Test match:
✅ Henry Wood
✅ Billy Griffith
✅ Jack Russell
✅ Stuart Broad
✅ Gus Atkinson
✅ 𝗝𝗮𝗰𝗼𝗯 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹
Born for the big stage 🌟 pic.twitter.com/tZQ7Hmpc3Q — England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 7, 2026
Bethell was recalled for the fourth test in Melbourne to replace Pope, scoring a gritty 40 in difficult batting conditions with the No 3 position now his to lose.
Australia have already retained the Ashes.
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