England's young all-rounder Jacob Bethell took a cheeky dig at Australia on their early exit from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026. Placed in the same group as Zimbabwe, co-hosts Sri Lanka, Ireland and Oman, Australia managed just two wins. Bethell feels that Australia didn't seem like they are firing at the start of the tournament which cost them a seat at the Super 8 stage.
“It was good to see. They just didn’t seem like they got firing in the tournament. And in those group stage matches if you don’t hit the ground running, you’re in danger of that happening. So yeah, it was a shame for them,” Bethell said in a video posted by BBC's Test Match Special that has gone viral on social media.
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Why Bethell may not be allowed to bowl vs Sri Lanka?
Meanwhile, England are set to take on co-hosts Sri Lanka in their first Super 8 clash on February 22 at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. In the pre-game press conference, skipper Harry Brook confirmed that Bethell may not be allowed to bowl against Dasun Shanaka’s side.
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The left-arm spinner suffered a blow to his left ring finger while fielding against West Indies. The ICC rule prohibits him from bowling with strapping on his bowling hand. But, the umpires can give consent if its necessary. Brook revealed that they will request the match officials Adrian Holdstock and Ahsan Raza to permit Bethell to bowl.
“The rule with the strapping on your finger isn't quite helping because he's got a decent cut on his finger so he'd have to have strapping,” Brook told the reporters.
“If there's some way we can get around that then we'd like to bowl him. But at the minute, I don't think it's possible.”
Bethell’s 4-fer vs Sri Lanka
Bethell is yet to bowl an over in the T20 World Cup 2026. Earlier, in the preparatory series, he had wreaked havoc with the ball against Sri Lanka, claiming four wickets for just 11 runs. In a low-scoring contest, his spell helped England win by 12 runs, defending a total of 128/9.