Jacob Bethell has returned home early from the Indian Premier League with a finger injury and is a doubt for the Lord’s Test against New Zealand in less than two weeks’ time.
Bethell’s team, the Royal Challengers Bangalore, have qualified for the IPL play-offs, but he will fly back to England to have the injury assessed.
James Rew, Somerset’s uncapped batsman, is batting cover in the England squad and will benefit if Bethell misses the first Test. Bethell scored a breakthrough century in his last innings for England at No 3 in the Sydney Ashes Test.
If he does miss the Lord’s Test, England could rejig their batting order and ask Joe Root to move up one slot from his preferred position. Harry Brook could then slot in at No 4, which would allow Rew to bat at No 5 on debut, a potentially easier time to go in.
Root has been unwilling to move from No 4 in the past but, with Emilio Gay making his Test debut at Lord’s as Ben Duckett’s new opening partner, batting Rew at three would give England two new players in the top three.
For the second year in a row, Bethell has missed the start of the English season to play in the IPL. Last year it cost him his England place for the one-off Test against Zimbabwe, which was a decision that had long-term ramifications for the team. Ollie Pope seized his opportunity to bat at No 3 by scoring a hundred which kept him in the side until he was dropped after three Tests of the Ashes series.
This time questions have been asked about Bethell remaining at the IPL as an unused squad player for most of the tournament, when he could have been batting in first-class cricket for Warwickshire and preparing for the Test summer.
Bethell has had an indifferent IPL. He scored just 163 runs in nine matches and injured the ring finger on his left hand while fielding on the boundary against Punjab Kings last week.
He missed Friday’s game against Sunrisers Hyderabad and the England and Wales Cricket Board announced on Saturday he will be returning home to be “assessed and monitored” by its medical staff. England are due to meet up in Loughborough on Sunday, with head coach Brendon McCullum arriving from New Zealand on Monday.