Jacob Bethell has named Scott Boland as the toughest bowler he has faced in red ball cricket, placing the Australian seamer above all others he has encountered in the longest format. The declaration came in a 40-minute interview published on The Super Over’s YouTube channel on 20 July 2026.
Boland is not the fastest bowler in world cricket. He does not take the most wickets in a calendar year, and he averages fewer Test appearances than most frontline seamers at international level. Yet he is the same bowler who dismissed Virat Kohli five times across the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, every dismissal an edge behind or to slip, as Kohli averaged just 23.25 across eight innings in his worst Australian series. Bethell, who has described batting alongside Kohli at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium as the loudest cricket moment of his career, singles out the same man.
Bethell came into the fifth Ashes Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground having sat out the opening three matches of the series. He later said the wait was “actually a blessing” — his batting improved through a Lions game in Brisbane during that period, and by the time he played at the SCG, he felt ready. On day four, he walked in with England 180 runs behind and constructed an innings of 154 off 265 balls that Ricky Ponting called “flawless” and Michael Vaughan described as “a technical masterclass.”
With Bethell in the 90s and a maiden Test and first-class hundred one shot away, Australia called on Boland. He made Bethell play and miss twice in four deliveries. The field was up. Every run from that point required a decision against the pressure of the moment.
“I was quite happy when they brought spin on rather than Boland. I was a bit nervous around him. He just lands it there and he’s pretty hard to score off, especially when they bring the field up.”
Jacob Bethell, fifth Ashes Test, Sydney, January 7, 2026
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What Bethell describes in four words, “he just lands it there,” is the precise reason Boland is so difficult to score off at Test level. Boland does not beat batters with pace. He does not rely on extravagant swing or seam movement to create chances. He wins by removing options, ball after ball, over after over. Against a left-hander like Bethell, a delivery landing consistently on the fourth/fifth stump line at 135-140kph takes away the cut (the ball is not wide enough), removes the pull (it is not short enough), and turns the cover drive into a gamble rather than a release shot. The moment the field comes up, the leg-side flick disappears too. The batter has no free scoring area. Every run requires manufacturing a shot against the natural direction of the ball. Any mistimed attempt produces an edge. This is not dramatic bowling. There is no bouncer barrage, no reverse swing, nothing the crowd reacts to on a television highlight. It is just relentless accuracy in the one place where the batter can do nothing comfortable with the ball. That is how Kohli edged five times. That is what Bethell felt when he was nine runs from a hundred.
The Nervous Nineties
Bethell had been within reach of a Test hundred before and not got there. In the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington, he was batting on 96 when he edged Tim Southee and was dismissed. He spoke about that dismissal directly when explaining what was different at the SCG.
“I was a little bit nervous, but nowhere near as nervous as when [scoring 96] in New Zealand, where I forgot to watch the ball and got out.”
Jacob Bethell, fifth Ashes Test, Sydney, January 7, 2026
The correction between Wellington and Sydney was not technical. It was attentional. In Wellington, Bethell stopped reading the ball from the hand and started calculating the boundary, the milestone, the moment. In Sydney, he made a deliberate return to the only cue that works under any pressure: the ball. He played what was bowled, not what was on the scoreboard. He reached 154.
In the same interview, in a section titled “What Makes Joe Root…”, Bethell named Root as the batter he most wants to learn from at this stage of his career. He described Root’s ability to build an innings without a single attacking stroke as an art form. Root can reach 20 runs in a Test innings through deflections, placements, and intelligent singles, without once playing a shot that draws attention. That quiet accumulation, Bethell said, is something he is actively working to add to his game alongside his naturally aggressive instincts.
There was a lighter moment. Bethell recalled an exchange with Phil Salt during an England T20I. After Bethell had hit a six, Salt called from the other end: “Go again!” Bethell read it as instruction to attempt another six immediately, went for it, and was dismissed. Salt had meant go again next over. It is the kind of dressing-room miscommunication that costs a wicket and only makes sense in hindsight.
Jacob Bethell about Chinnaswamy Crowd and batting with Kohli. [The Super Over Podcast]
“It was crazy – when we were going out to bat, they were ‘Kohli, Kohli, Kohli’ – I hit the 2nd ball for a boundary and I have never heard a sound like that in my life”. pic.twitter.com/8jOOWxKSXa
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 20, 2026
The interview, titled “The Making of Cricket’s Next Star,” was published on The Super Over’s YouTube channel on 20 July 2026. No official response from Cricket Australia or the ECB has been made at time of publication.
