Kevin Pietersen has reopened his long-running feud with Sir Alastair Cook by dismissing his suggestion that Jacob Bethell should be playing in the County Championship rather than carrying drinks in the Indian Premier League.
Bethell has risen to prominence over the past 18 months, becoming one of a select band of England batsmen to score a century in each international format, including a sparkling 154 in the final Ashes Test at Sydney.
That all-but-guaranteed him a spot in England’s top order for the foreseeable future, but he is spending the early part of the English summer at the IPL with Royal Challengers Bengaluru rather than with Warwickshire in the County Championship.
He is yet to play, partly because of selection and partly because of a niggle that he has now overcome. An injury to another Englishman, Phil Salt, could propel him into the RCB XI in the coming days, however.
Cook, speaking on the Stick to Cricket podcast, floated Bethell as an option to open the batting for England against New Zealand in June, but said the fact that he is not playing effectively ruled that out.
“For that top-order batting, the way he played at Sydney, against that attack, in those conditions – I’ve looked at a player there and I’m certain this bloke can open. If he can bat three, he can open,” Cook said.
“[But] it’s not ideal, is it? Bethell shouldn’t really be it, because he’s not opening. He’s sitting on his a— at the IPL not doing anything. Ideally he could come back and open for Warwickshire to help England.”
As England’s IPL trailblazer, Pietersen took issue with this, arguing that Bethell would benefit from being at the tournament, even when not playing, and reigniting a feud more than a decade old.
“Alastair Cook has absolutely NO IDEA what it’s like to be in the IPL,” Pietersen wrote on social media. “What it’s like to always be around the best players in the world.
“So his opinion on Jacob Bethell doesn’t matter at all. Stay in India, Jacob. I know, even though you’re not playing, you’re learning and will be a way better player.”
Pietersen added: “If county cricket was as strong as it was in the late 90s and early 2000s, I’d also want Bethell back playing it now. But, it’s NOT! It’ll benefit England more by him being in India and he’s already shown that.
Replying to another user, Pietersen said: “He [Bethell] learns mindset, training methods, coping with noise etc, etc. The list is endless.”
Pietersen and Cook were England team-mates from the latter’s debut in 2006 until the former was dropped after a calamitous 2013-14 Ashes. Cook was captain then and played a part in Pietersen’s banishment, despite bringing him back into the fold after the “text-gate” scandal of 2012.
The pair are both England greats and, as opener and No 4, shared a number of crucial partnerships, helping secure historic series victories Down Under in 2010-11 and India in 2012.
Bethell himself spoke about the issue on Wednesday. He went to the IPL last year and played three matches, which contributed to Ollie Pope being preferred as No 3 against Zimbabwe, and meant Bethell had to wait until the fifth Test against India to get an opportunity.
“I don’t think there’s a right or wrong way to do it,” he told the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast. “I think we’ve seen last year, for me personally, that by not playing cricket for a little while, I came into the end of that India series a bit undercooked, which was a learning for me to take on board.
“But actually, if you look at where I was last year after coming back from the IPL, I was flying, going into that West Indies series, and I feel in a similar position now.
“I feel better now than I was a month ago after the World Cup, through just getting time around the guys over here and the pure standard of cricket in India and the IPL.
“It’s something that not many people will understand, how cool it is, until actually being around a team or the tournament itself when you’re here. It just has a completely different feel. It feels like everyone almost ups their game subconsciously without even really knowing because of the calibre of the tournament.
“You might not get the amount of time in the middle as [you do] in County Championship playing four rounds of that. But I think in terms of the ability to actually just continue doing what you want to do when there are loads of eyes on you is really important for me going forward.”
Bethell added that he would like to remain at No 3 rather than open.
“I’d love to stay at three, if it’s up to me. I really like the position,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a massive difference between three and the top. Someone like Rooty [Joe Root] had to start opening the batting and then kind of sit back down into No 4. So if that’s what they want me to do, I’d be more than happy to do it. But, I like three and I’d love to cement that spot as mine if possible.”