England in India: Injured Jacob Bethell a doubt for Champions Trophy and Tom Banton called up
2025-02-09
Category: sports

England batter Jacob Bethell is a doubt for the Champions Trophy after sustaining a hamstring injury in the first one-day international against India on Thursday.Bethell, 21, has been left out of England's XI for Sunday's second ODI in Cuttack and Somerset batter Tom Banton, 26, has been called up as cover for the third match on Wednesday.Warwickshire's Bethell has had a scan on the injury but will be assessed again next week before any decision is made on his future availability. England's first match of the Champions Trophy is on 22 February against Australia. Teams have until 12 February to finalise their squads.
Bethell, who has impressed across all formats since making his debut last September, scored a battling fifty in England's four-wicket defeat in Nagpur. He also took 1-18 from three overs with his left-arm spin but his absence leaves England desperately short of batting options.Wicketkeeper Jamie Smith also has a calf issue, which ruled him out of the last two matches of the T20 series in India and the first two ODIs.He kept wicket in the warm-ups on Sunday morning and England remain hopeful he will be fit.Jamie Overton, who averages 17.24 in List A cricket, was recalled to bat number seven for England in their must-win match in Cuttack.Banton played the most recent of his six ODIs in 2020. He has also played 14 T20s, most recently in 2022.Having caught the eye as a teenager in domestic cricket, Banton's first foray into internationals was underwhelming, with three fifties across his 20 innings.He is in form at the time of his recall, however. The right-hander is currently the leading run-scorer in the ILT20 in the United Arab Emirates, having scored 493 runs in 11 innings, including two centuries, for MI Emirates.