Former England captain Nasser Hussain has showered praise on Jacob Bethell after the youngster scored a stunning century in the second innings of the Sydney Ashes Test against Australia on Wednesday. Bethell scored his maiden Test century, scoring a brilliant knock of 154 runs off 265 balls to keep England in the contest.

Hussain said it was innings of a proper No. 3, as Bethell was calm, and composed during his stay at the crease. After scoring his maiden First-Class Hundred, the 22-year-old Bethell became the ninth England batter to score a century against Australia, aged 22 or younger. He joined the elite list, including Johnny Briggs, Jack Hearne, Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, Colin Cowdrey, David Gower, Mike Atherton, Alastair Cook, and Ben Stokes. 

Moreover, Bethell became the youngest batter since 2006 to record an Ashes century. He bettered his previous highest score of 96.

“This is where he came of age. It was the innings of a proper No 3. It was calm, it was composed, technically sound. The composure for a 22-year-old was just exceptional. For such a good player, Ollie Pope at No 3 often loses balance and jabs at the ball. With Bethell today, he was more solid than I’ve seen Pope be the whole series really. The biggest compliment I can give him was it was the sort of innings you’d expect David Gower to play.”Bowl him a good ball, he’ll defend it; bowl him a bad ball, and he’ll put it away,” Hussain said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.

However, Bethell’s brilliance with the bat went in vain as Australia registered a comprehensive five-wicket win in the fifth Test to take the Ashes by 4-1. Travis Head was awarded Player of the Match after returning with scores of 163 and 29.