Jacob 14 off 10 balls, 3 fours. First batting he's done in 7 weeks. Bound to be rusty.

Hold the presses, JB has got a game.

... is in the test squad for Englands first squad, looks certain to play as either #3 or as opener.

Not sure how much time there is between the end of his involvement in IPL and this opening test but doesn't seem ideal preparation.

Are the selectors taking the approach that he just finds his way in tests and will have a good run eventually, a la Crawley, and the real focus is white ball, or is this just negligence? Does seem to be the epitome of the BazBall era though. And I hate that term.

If RCB make the final he'll play that then line up for England in the 1st Test four days later.

Had another start today but fell cheaply again. From 6 games he’s averaging 14.16 with a high score of 27.
Not sure if this is doing him more harm than good?

Last year, his IPL stint cost him a year's Test cricket. This year, the correct decision would be to pick Jamie Smith at 3 and James Rew at 7. Toss a coin as to who keeps wicket.
Jacob will be lucky to keep his Test place.

Andy wrote:

If RCB make the final he'll play that then line up for England in the 1st Test four days later.

Archer is being 'rested' for the first test due to playing in the IPL. That's a separate conversation but I'm surprised Bethell is a shoo-in given the scenario.

Jamie Smith at three would make sense, Rew has to keep there though, can't have a test keeper batting at three. Whether England make this much change though, I don't know. You never know with the current management.

The more you think about this the less it makes sense for Bethell to play the NZ test series. Not so much on the resting basis, he's only played half an IPL and hasn't batted long, but on the unclear prioritisation and the fact he hasn't played a red ball game since the Sydney test in January. If you look at the fixtures, there are three England tests v NZ in June, then it is straight into England white ball in July. There is space for one CC match in June, but it's so close against the test I can't see him playing in that red-ball game. Surely it makes sense for Bethell to sit out the NZ test series, concentrate on playing in the blast, then go into the the July England white ball games?

When the Pakistan test series comes up later in the year, he surely will have had time to prepare for tests. Overall, I just don't get any sense of a plan from England about what he does. I can understand it if he prioritises white ball, or prioritises it during parts of the year - but he can't be expected to perform in a test series against NZ (and he will be tested and expected to do well) with the preparation he's done. As Mikkyk says, there just seems a bit more thought going on about how Archer is prepared and prioritising. Bethell is still young and probably doesn't know what's best for himself, he needs advising and having decisions made for him

I mentioned it up this feed probably a year back, it's still unclear what Bethell is going to to specialise in in the game. And given the demands of cricket now prioristisation does need to happen at least some of the time.