England's head coach Brendon McCullum has revealed that Jacob Bethell was fielding at gully region during the practice session on Monday, June 1 and he is fit enough to appear in the first Test game against New Zealand which will start on the coming Thursday at Lord's.
Bethell finished his stint with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season on a abrupt note to appear for medical tests conducted by the national team's medical staff for the upcoming series against New Zealand.
Earlier on Tuesday, McCullum revealed that Bethell is fully recovered and good enough to appear in the first Test, as he was appearing at the gully region during the training sessions. While talking further, McCullum also revealed that Bethell can bowl a few overs, which is abig positive for the English side.
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“He was operating at gully in our training yesterday and he is absolutely fine, so there are no problems there. He should be able to bowl as well, which is quite handy for us to have another bowling option in the top order," said McCullum.
Jacob Bethell's underwhelming performance in IPL 2026
While Jacob Bethell was the first choice opener in the RCB setup, but after Phil Salt's injury, he got a chance to open the innings. However, he struggled to create an impact with the bat, despite getting good starts he failed to convert those into a big knock.
In seven innings, the left-handed opener amassed only 96 runs at an average of 13.71 with a strike rate of 124.68. His best score of 27 off 27 balls came against in a league stage game against Mumbai Indians (MI)