Jacob Bethell to become England's youngest captain; former cricketer opens up: 'A lack of respect for Ireland'
has expressed concerns over Jacob Bethell's appointment as temporary captain for the upcoming T20I series against Ireland.
England will play three T20Is in Dublin starting September 17. The team will be without several key players, including regular captain
, who is being rested ahead of the Ashes series against Australia.
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Bethell, at 21, will become England's youngest international captain, surpassing Monty Bowden's 1889 record of captaining at age 23. The young all-rounder has played 29 international matches so far.
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"It's one of those ones that's quite difficult to explain, even to people like me, let alone people who have a passing interest in England's cricket teams. And therefore I don't really know what to make of it," Butcher said while speaking on the Wisden Cricket Weekly podcast.
"He's played next to no cricket all summer. He's 21 and he's had an entire English summer where he has been fit and has played little to no cricket of any meaning whatsoever, and here he is as England's youngest ever captain," Butcher added.
Bethell first gained attention during his Test debut in New Zealand, where he performed well at number three. He later participated in England's white-ball games and opened alongside Virat Kohli in Royal Challengers Bengaluru's first
victory.
An injury forced Bethell to miss England's Test against Zimbabwe. He returned to the team for the fifth Test against India when captain Ben Stokes was sidelined with a shoulder injury.
"Whether or not it was necessary for him to miss yet more red-ball cricket and captain the England side in Ireland, and quite frankly they've stripped out all the main players from that series anyway, with notable exceptions like Jordan Cox and Liam Livingstone - who only recently captained an England white-ball team on a tour of the West Indies," Butcher said.
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"So, was it necessary for Jacob Bethell to take on this role and play in those games in the absence of more meaningful cricket, giving what's coming up with the Ashes? I think there's a very strong argument that that is absolutely the case yes," he added.
"It shows a bit of a lack of respect for them [Ireland] and their cricket. We're not in the business of making people feel good about themselves, but it also says, 'this is a bit of a throwaway three matches that no one is really that interested in and we'll do what we jolly well like and not be too worried about whatever the consequences might be," Butcher concluded.
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