Jacob Bethell to become youngest England men's captain ever on T20 tour of Ireland - 'An honour and I can't wait to do it'
Published 15/08/2025 at 23:20 GMT+1
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Jacob Bethell will make history as the youngest England captain in the history of men's international cricket next month. Bethell will lead England on their T20 tour of Ireland. All three matches will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+. Bethell has previously captained England Under-19s and Warwickshire's second XI.
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Jacob Bethell will become the youngest England men's captain ever when the 21-year-old leads the T20 side in Ireland next month.
England's regular white-ball captain Harry Brook is rested, along with other all-format players, so Bethell will have the honour of captaining his country in three matches against Ireland.
The matches in September will be live on TNT Sports and discovery+, ahead of a huge winter to come, which will include the Ashes series in Australia.
The previous youngest captain was Monty Bowden, who was aged 23 years and 144 days old when he led England in a Test against South Africa in 1889.
"Quite the day finding out," Bethell told Sky Sports. "The first emotion is pride. Captaining England is going to be an honour and I can't wait to do it.
"It will be a good challenge. I have done a lot of captaining growing up. It will be different captaining England. I like to think I read the game pretty well."
Bethell, who scored three fifties in each of his first three Tests last year, has previously captained England Under-19s and Warwickshire's second XI.
"Jacob has impressed with his leadership qualities ever since he has been with the England squads and the series against Ireland will provide him with the opportunity to further develop those skills on the international stage," selector Luke Wright said.
Prior to the Ireland tour, a full-strength England will play three one-day internationals and three T20s against South Africa, with Hampshire bowler Sonny Baker given a first call-up.
England T20 squad for Ireland: Jacob Bethell (capt), Rehan Ahmed, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jos Buttler (wk), Liam Dawson, Tom Hartley, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Jamie Overton, Matthew Potts, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt (wk), Luke Wood.
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