Kevin Pietersen reignited his long-running feud with Sir Alastair Cook after Cook criticised Jacob Bethell’s decision to remain with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League while not featuring in matches.
Cook suggested Bethell should return to Warwickshire to play county cricket rather than “sitting on his a*** at the IPL not doing anything.” Pietersen, who fell out with the England setup under Cook’s captaincy, hit back on X, arguing Cook’s lack of IPL experience makes his view irrelevant.
“Alastair Cook has absolutely NO IDEA what it’s like to be in the IPL,” Pietersen wrote. “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 later added in a separate post: “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.”
Bethell has enjoyed a breakthrough period, establishing himself in England’s top order across all formats after his unbeaten 142 in the Sydney Test and a match-winning T20 World Cup semi-final showing. Despite that, he has been unused in RCB’s first six IPL matches. His India stint reportedly earns him around £250,000.
Defending his choice on the Sky Cricket podcast, Bethell said: “I firmly believe that this is the thing for me to be doing right now. I feel better now than I was a month ago after the World Cup, just from getting time around the guys over here and the pure standard of cricket in India and the IPL. Every nets session, you’ve got hundreds of eyes on you… You get exposed to a lot of stuff.”
Bethell’s form in Australia means he is likely to be in England’s XI for the first Test of the summer against New Zealand at Lord’s on June 4. There has been speculation he could move to open if England drop Zak Crawley, which might allow James Rew to slot into the middle order. Bethell said he prefers to stay at No.3 but would comply with selectors: “I’d love to stay at three, if it’s up to me. I really like the position… But, I like three and I’d love to cement that spot as mine if possible.”
Cook, speaking on the Stick to Cricket podcast, praised Bethell’s Sydney innings and said he could open for England: “For that top order batting, the way he played at Sydney, against that attack, in those conditions… I’m certain this bloke can open. If he can bat three, he can open.” However, Cook questioned the value of Bethell being sidelined at the IPL: “(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.”
The debate follows Ben Duckett’s decision to pull out of an IPL contract to play for Nottinghamshire and try to secure his Test place. RCB, meanwhile, sit well in the standings and player availability agreements with the ECB are in place, making an early IPL exit for Bethell unlikely.
Bethell stressed that even without match time, the IPL environment provides valuable pressure and learning opportunities: “You might not get the amount of time in the middle as [you do] in County Championship… 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 personally going forward. Also, it’s been scheduled in now where we’ve had practice matches when we’re not playing… we’re getting time out in the middle.”
Reflecting on his development, Bethell said he has thrived against top opposition and learned from ups and downs: “I felt like I’ve always played better against better opposition, and that’s shown a bit… You can look at the three hundreds and go, ‘it’s been great’. But there’s been some lean patches in there as well… It’s been nice to actually go up and down and actually just learn to deal with that through spending a year on the road pretty much. It’s been great to have those standout moments, but all it does is make me hungry for a lot more.”
England’s home summer begins with a three-Test series against New Zealand from June 4, broadcast live on Sky Sports.