Bethell's sliding doors give England a decision

Jacob Bethell's 96 is his highest score in first-class cricket

It could be suggested to Jacob Bethell that he has had his sliding doors moment, but he's miles too young for the film so would probably have no idea what's going on.

Sport is littered with them. Glenn McGrath treading on the ball in 2005, Denmark called off the beach to win the 1992 Euros, Richard Williams seeing Virginia Ruzici on TV and deciding his daughters Venus and Serena would become tennis players.

England's tour of New Zealand should have been Jordan Cox's time, only for a flick of Jeetan Patel's dog stick to change all that. Throwdowns in the Queenstown nets left Cox with a broken thumb and Bethell with his chance. Without it, who knows when the opportunity to play Test cricket might have come.

By naming Bethell in the squad, there were some who thought England had gone a bit too Bazball. Yes, a few games for a second-string England white-ball team showed great promise, but to put a 21-year-old with no first-class hundred in line for Test cricket hinted at vanity.

The conversation has switched from why England have Bethell in the team to why they would ever leave him out. A stylish 96 on the second day of the second Test in Wellington is Bethell's second Test half-century in seven days, both in a number-three position where he had never previously batted in first-class cricket.

Much has been made of Bethell's backstory. The boy born in Barbados arriving in England with a stamp of approval from Brian Lara and Sir Garfield Sobers. His dad Graham played club cricket with Joe Root's dad Matt. Now Bethell's future looks more intriguing than his past.

This is the man who turned up for his Test debut in Christchurch on a electric scooter. With the bleached hair, zinc smeared across the cheeks and collar turned up, he is perfectly at home in his surroundings.

"Pretty much every time I've played against better people, I've played better," Bethell said after Christchurch. "The step up to the Hundred, played better. Straight into internationals, played better. I didn't really have a doubt in my mind that coming into Test cricket that I'd have done well."

How's that for confidence?

Before we dish out 100 Test caps, Root's run-scoring records and a knighthood, there are some caveats.

Both Bethell's 37-ball 50 in Christchurch and 96 in Wellington were made in low-pressure situations. Last week it was the freedom of a modest run chase, on Saturday with the cushion of a 155-run first-innings lead.

He shaped up well in the first innings of both Tests, particularly in testing conditions in Christchurch, then got out. In Wellington there was a naivety to his dismissal. Nathan Smith telegraphed a short ball by dropping out deep square leg, yet Bethell still took on the pull and was caught down the leg side.

If that sounds like an impression of the Grinch, it is not meant to be. Bethell's Wellington knock was wonderful, full vindication of England's faith and proof he belongs at this level.

Compact, calm and correct, there is a hint of Andrew Strauss in Bethell's set-up. It is the stance, shuffle across the crease and bend of the front knee into the ball. That is where the comparisons end. Strauss would have killed for Bethell's range of strokes.

Against a new ball and on a pitch starting to play tricks Bethell played as late as a broken clock. Across the series, Bethell has met the ball on average 1.73m in front of the stumps. Only Kane Williamson, the master of posthumous play, greets it later. When the edge was found, Bethell's baby-soft hands got him out of trouble.

Bethell was busy. In a stand of 187 with Ben Duckett, perhaps the most loyal Bazball disciple, Bethell kept pace. In his 36 overs at the crease, there were 27 where he faced three deliveries or more and in only three of those did he fail to score.

His drives were handsome, but it was the cuts and pulls that came with a dollop of Caribbean cool. Three sixes were muscled on to the grass banks. Across his four innings, Bethell has been savage on anything short, striking at 121 when the New Zealand bowlers have dragged down.

Perhaps trying to reach three figures with a flourish, an edge off Tim Southee let all the air out of the Basin Reserve. The England players were already on the dressing-room balcony, ready to celebrate. Duckett consoled Bethell with a pat on the back as he walked off.

Still, Bethell's 96 is the highest score by an England man as young as his 21 years and 45 days since Denis Compton made 120 against West Indies at Lord's in 1939.

To go down the list of players to make such contributions in Test cricket before or just after their 22nd birthday is an England batting hall of fame. Compton, Len Hutton, Alastair Cook, David Gower, Peter May and Colin Cowdrey.

There is a note of caution. The previous England player to register two half-centuries before he hit 22 was Sam Curran. Haseeb Hameed made 82 on debut against India in 2016. Neither are 30, though there is a reasonable chance they won't play another Test between them.

The fascination comes with England's next move over Bethell. He will play in the third Test in Hamilton next week. Then what?

Before Wellington, Stokes said new father Jamie Smith will come straight back into the team next summer and stand-in wicketkeeper Ollie Pope will return to the number-three slot being kept warm by Bethell.

It feels like Stokes has gone early with that declaration (a bit like the Edgbaston Ashes Test). Smith, another who took to Tests like an England cricketer to a golf course, is surely safe, so the spotlight falls on Pope and Zak Crawley.

Pope has made two half-centuries at number six, reaffirming the suspicions of many he is better suited lower than three. After being so consistent in the year up to a broken finger, Crawley's torment at the hands of Matt Henry couldn't be coming at a worse time than when a young pretender is knocking on the door.

England are immensely loyal, but also not afraid to make ruthless selection decisions. Ask James Anderson, Jack Leach, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes.

Stokes and Brendon McCullum like to talk about the "ceiling" of a cricketer. Crawley has played 52 Tests and has an average of 30.89. Pope 54 Tests, an average 34.32. They are long enough careers to suggest each man's ceiling will not be pushed much further. Bethell's looks sky high.

Bethell has had his sliding doors moment. England's is coming.