Bears stars focus on Finals Day before England duty

Jacob Bethell (left) and Dan Mousley are aiming to help Birmingham Bears to T20 Blast Finals Day on the same weekend as England's T20I series with Australia

Jacob Bethell and Dan Mousley want to secure a dream week by helping Birmingham Bears to a home T20 Finals Day alongside making their England debuts.

The pair have been included in a new-look England party for the three-match T20I series against Australia on 11, 13 and 15 September.

Bears host Gloucestershire on Friday, 6 September (19:00 BST), seeking to secure a place at Finals Day back at Edgbaston on 14 September.

Bethell told BBC Radio WM: "It would be a huge privilege to get there and, if we did, hopefully I could play a part."

Jacob Bethell (left) and Dan Mousley have played for Birmingham Bears together since 2021

Bethell, 20, and 23-year-old Mousley, combined to score 731 runs with seven half-centuries in 14 games to help Birmingham top the North Group table with 10 wins.

Bears lost by two wickets off the final ball in last year’s quarter-final at home to Essex and were skittled for 82 to lose by 104 runs at home to Hampshire in 2022.

They also suffered a last-eight exit in 2021 and have not reached the last four since 2017, when they lost in the Edgbaston final against Notts.

Bethell said: "We're determined. Obviously, the last couple of results didn't go our way. We had a really close game against Essex but we're hoping to change that and play the same brand of cricket we have been playing throughout the competition.

"The boys are confident, everyone is in good spirits. The vibe from the Edgbaston crowd definitely pushes us."

Mousley added: "When the Hollies is bouncing, there is no better place to play and we are all just looking forward to Friday, a good crowd, a good wicket and hopefully we can entertain the fans.

"It would mean a hell of a lot to get back to Finals Day, especially for the younger boys.

"We're in a really good place, we have been really successful in the North Group, it's about now converting that into a quarter-final - a home Finals Day would be unbelievable."

Full focus on Friday

Bethell said the "first hurdle" for he and Mousley was Friday night before their focus switches to England duty.

He added: “Obviously, to play for your country is huge. It's definitely nice for people to put their faith in me and get the call-up after putting in some good work this year. I'm looking forward to getting going."

Mousley said: "As a kid you always want to play for England. When the phone call comes it's a little bit of a shock.

"It's pretty awesome – me and Jacob speak a lot about hopefully playing for England together.

"Hopefully, we can go into the environment and perform and do well for England."