'I Hope I Don't Get Booed Too Much': Jacob Bethell On Returning To Barbados As English Player

Jacob Bethell is set to return to his birthplace, Barbados, as an England player later this year. The 20-year-old all-rounder had spent the first 12 years of his life in the West Indies before relocating to Warwickshire. He made his name in youth cricket before earning a call-up for the England U-19 squad. Bethell made his international debut earlier this year, featuring in a T20I series against Australia. He has been retained for the upcoming tour of the West Indies, where England will play three ODIs and five T20Is. The last ODI and the first two T20Is are scheduled to take place at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

According to Bethell, many of his childhood friends will attend those matches and have already booked their tickets. “That’s where my heritage is, so all my friends have already bought tickets; they’ll be in the stands waiting for me when I get there,” he said during a recent interaction with The Telegraph on the sidelines of the Professional Cricketers’ Association awards, as per Sportskeeda.

Bethell, however, remains worried about how the West Indies fans would react after seeing him in an England jersey.

“I’m slightly worried about how the West Indian fans are going to accept me, so I’m hoping I don’t get booed too much, as I’ve seen Steve Smith in his last few games, and every time he walks out to bat, it’s like the end of the world,” he explained.

“I’m hoping that’s not the case in the West Indies. I’m only joking; there’s a whole lot of support coming around, so I can’t imagine it’s going to be anything but that,” Bethell added.

Bethell has so far represented England in seven matches across ODIs and T20Is. He opened up about his aspiration of playing Tests and said, “It’s nice to tick off two of them, but the best one is yet to come, hopefully. Test cricket has always been my dream, and I know it’s taken a different shape in the last three years, but definitely, that’s still my dream—to play Test cricket for England.”

The spin-bowling all-rounder was nominated for the ‘Young Player of the Year’ award at the Professional Cricketers’ Association awards. But he lost the title to Jamie Smith, who made his Test debut against the West Indies earlier this year in July.