The scoreboard read 7-1. England had lost their first wicket with barely a run on the board. Jacob Bethell walked onto the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 26, 2025. A crowd of 92,045 watched him make the long walk to the crease.
He was 22 years old. He’d barely played first-class cricket in the previous 12 months. England were 3-0 down in the series. Australia had already retained the Ashes. England hadn’t won a Test match in Australia in 15 years—18 matches, 16 losses.
Bethell scored 40 runs off 46 balls at a strike rate of 86.96. England won in two days—their first victory on Australian soil since 2011.
But how he did it matters more.
The 15-Year Wait That Shaped the Moment
England’s last Test victory in Australia came at the SCG in January 2011. Since then, they’d played 18 Tests on Australian soil and lost 16 of them. The streak represented the joint-longest winless run for any team in Australia.
Joe Root had played all 18 of those matches without a win. Ben Stokes had endured 13 consecutive losses. These weren’t rookies learning the game. These were established stars who understood what winning in Australia meant.
Bethell achieved in his fourth Test what veterans spent careers chasing.
Australia were 3-0 up. The Ashes were already lost. But this wasn’t meaningless. England needed this win to avoid their first whitewash in Australia since 2006-07.
The Preparation You Don’t See
Bethell didn’t just show up and swing. He watched.
For three matches, he studied Scott Boland from the sidelines. Boland had been outstanding for Australia. He moved the ball both ways and rarely gave left-handers anything loose. Bethell watched how he set up Ben Duckett and Ben Stokes. He noted angles, lengths, and field placements. When his turn came, he had a plan.
“I was just trying to get outside the line to Boland, and it came straighter and kind of instinct, you drive it,” Bethell explained after the match. “I’ve got three matches worth of watching and especially how he goes about it to both the Bens—both the lefties.”
Sometimes watching matters more than playing.
The MCG pitch was treacherous. Twenty wickets fell on day one—the most in an Ashes Test since 1909. Australia was bowled out for 152. England replied with 110. Batting wasn’t just challenging. Survival was an achievement.
The IPL Advantage Nobody Talks About
Bethell credited his time with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League for preparing him for the Boxing Day Test atmosphere.
“I definitely had a lot more confidence coming into this game after playing in front of, I don’t know, 50,000—which felt like 100,000—in Bengaluru,” he said.
Critics argue that T20 cricket undermines Test cricket. Bethell’s experience proves otherwise.
The format changes. The crowd size changes. But performing under pressure doesn’t.
Bethell learned to handle 50,000 people at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. When he faced 94,199 in Melbourne, he already knew how to block out the noise.
What Ben Stokes Saw That Others Missed
After the victory, Stokes offered a telling assessment of Bethell’s performance:
“He played well, coming in under a little bit of pressure with where the team results were at before this game. He got an unplayable delivery in the first innings. So then to go out there and play the way that he did there, I think, shows a lot about his character and the confidence that he has within himself. So yes, something for Beth to be able to build on, definitely.”
Stokes saw three things: how Bethell handled pressure, bounced back from failure, and trusted himself.
The first innings dismissal—caught behind off Mitchell Starc for 1—could have destroyed his confidence. Instead, he came back and scored 40 in the second innings to help chase down 175.
The Debut That Signaled What Was Coming
Bethell’s Melbourne performance wasn’t a fluke. His Test debut against New Zealand on November 28, 2024, showed he could handle pressure.
He scored 50 not out off 37 balls in England’s second innings—the joint second-fastest debut Test half-century by an England batter. He hit six fours and a six. England won by eight wickets.
Bethell didn’t accumulate runs when England were comfortable. He attacked when they needed momentum.
The Uncertainty That Remains
Bethell stepped in for Ollie Pope at number three. Pope had averaged 20.23 in the first three Tests. The position isn’t permanently Bethell’s—Pope remains England’s first-choice number three. But Bethell’s Melbourne innings changed things. He’s proven he can perform in Australia.
The Chase
England needed 175 to win. Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett got them off to a flyer—51 in 6.6 overs. Crawley hit a straight six off Pat Cummins. Duckett ramped Mitchell Starc.
Brydon Carse was promoted to number three as a pinch-hitter but lasted just eight balls. Bethell came in at 65-2. He drove his second ball through the covers for four. He reverse-scooped Scott Boland over the keeper for two. Five fours in his 40s.
Bethell and Crawley added 47. England reached 112-3 when Crawley fell lbw to Boland for 37. Bethell was caught at cover off Boland for 40 at 137-4. Root followed for 15. Stokes went for 2. England slipped to 165-6.
Harry Brook (18 not out) and Jamie Smith (3 not out) finished it. England won by four wickets.
The Two-Day Test That Proved Everything
The Melbourne Test was only the second two-day Ashes match in 104 years. Josh Tongue took 5-45 in Australia’s first innings—England’s first Boxing Day five-wicket haul at the MCG. Brydon Carse took 4-34 in the second innings. Ben Stokes chipped in with 3-24.
But Bethell’s 40 off 46 balls kept England ahead of the required rate. He scored at 86.96—fast enough to maintain pressure, controlled enough not to throw it away.
Why This Performance Will Age Well
People will remember England’s first win in Australia in 15 years. They’ll remember the two-day finish. They’ll remember the crowd of 92,045.
They should also remember the 22-year-old who scored 40 runs when most expected him to fail.
Bethell didn’t score a century. He didn’t hit the winning runs. But he steadied the chase after Duckett fell and built a crucial partnership with Crawley and Root.
What Comes Next
The fifth Test starts in Sydney on January 4. Bethell is expected to keep his place at number three. Australia leads 3-1. England can’t win the series. But they can avoid defeat.
Bethell has scored 312 runs at 34.66 in five Tests. Three of those Tests came in New Zealand, where he averaged 43.50 at number three. His two Tests in Australia have brought him 41 runs at 20.50.
“I like three,” Bethell said after the Melbourne win. “You come in when the ball is new. In some scenarios, the ball’s going all over the shop, but in other scenarios it presents opportunities to score when bowlers are trying to take wickets, and the field is attacking.”
He’s 22. He’s played five Tests. His position isn’t secure. But in Melbourne, in front of 92,045 people, after 15 years of waiting, Bethell showed he belongs.