England have thrown Jacob Bethell in at the deep end after asking the 21-year-old to bat at number three on his Test debut against New Zealand this week.

The tourists were forced into an eleventh-hour rethink after wicketkeeper Jordan Cox was ruled out of the series with a broken thumb and have responded with a typically bold gambit, handing the gloves to Ollie Pope and a key role to the untried Warwickshire player.

Bethell has just picked up a £250,000 Indian Premier League deal with Royal Challengers Bangalore but has played only 20 first-class matches with a modest average of just 25.44 and has never scored a professional century.

Bethell has just picked up a £250,000 Indian Premier League deal with Royal Challengers Bangalore
Jacob Bethell has just picked up a £250,000 Indian Premier League deal with Royal Challengers Bangalore (Bradley Collyer/PA)

He has also never batted at number three in red-ball cricket, a pivotal position he will now occupy against the in-form Black Caps in Christchurch in the first Test, which begins at 10pm GMT on Wednesday night.

The Barbados-born left-hander made his first international appearance in September and has already won 15 caps in limited-overs cricket, enjoying a couple of thrilling cameos along the way and earning a place on the recent tour of the West Indies.

It was thought he would have to wait for his first taste of Test cricket but Cox’s injury forced England’s hand.

They might easily have slotted the newcomer into the middle order but, after allowing Pope to move down to number six after stepping up behind the stumps, they opted to catapult Bethell up the order rather than promote Joe Root or Ben Stokes, with the skipper moving down to seven.

Root, who will win his 150th cap at Hagley Oval, gave a ringing endorsement of Bethell’s potential to rise to the challenge.

Joe Root, who will win his 150th cap at Hagley Oval, remains in his preferred position at four
Joe Root, who will win his 150th cap at Hagley Oval, remains in his preferred position at four (John Walton/PA)

“I love the look of him as a player. I’m really looking forward to watching him do his stuff,” he said.

“He’s full of confidence, he’s got great ability and a really well rounded game. He’s a mature head on young shoulders and I think he has all the components to set him up nicely to be successful in this format and at this level.

“He plays very well square of the wicket and if he gets in on a wicket like that he could be very destructive. It’s a really exciting opportunity for us to see a young player coming in hopefully doing something really special at the start of his career.”

Stokes will back up a three-pronged pace attack of Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse and Gus Atkinson, with Shoaib Bashir retained as first-choice spinner.