Not the coming man much longer - Bethell's arrival is due

There are a few reasons why Jacob Bethell might not have been playing for England in the first one-day international against West Indies at Edgbaston.

First, and most obviously, the boy born in Barbados could have quite easily been in maroon instead of royal blue, in the away dressing room rather than on his home ground for Warwickshire.

He might have remained at the rescheduled Indian Premier League (IPL), his Royal Challengers Bengaluru side marching to the final some 4,000 miles away in Chandigarh. Virat Kohli and all that.

In a short international career, the 21-year-old has regularly made waves. Once again he showed why he is a cause of so much hype. Bethell's 82 from 53 balls does nothing to quieten the debate around his inclusion in the Test team.

This was the left-hander's England comeback, a first home appearance since impressing in his debut Test series in New Zealand, a first international since a hamstring injury ruled him out of the Champions Trophy. It says much about Bethell's growing stature that he was so badly missed in such an awful campaign.

There was the kerfuffle over his non-availability for the Zimbabwe Test. Bethell was the only current member of the Test squad to play in the IPL, rather than turn up at Trent Bridge. There are some who argued he made the wrong choice, especially after new white-ball captain Harry Brook pulled out of his deal with Delhi Capitals.

In Bethell's defence, he was picked up by Bengaluru before his Test debut and would surely have taken advice from England coach Brendon McCullum and Test skipper Ben Stokes, two men well-versed in the IPL.

More broadly, there are howls of derision when England get thumped in a limited-overs tournament, or are clueless when it comes to batting against and bowling spin. There is a T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka early next year.

Bethell will have learned an immeasurable amount from sharing a dressing room with an all-time great like Kohli, playing under a coach like Andy Flower and opening the batting against Mitchell Starc, who called him "an absolute gun".

Speaking to BBC Test Match Special, Bethell said: "I was always going to be in the IPL after I signed that contract. I watched the boys do well from afar and really enjoyed it.

"Virat was great. He was happy to share lots of advice with me and Andy Flower was a great coach, too. I felt the energy when I went out to bat with Virat and that is something I will take into my game, that intensity."

In Nottingham, Bethell was the story without being there. However Stokes chose to spin it, his "put two and two together" comments were ambiguous at best and clumsy at worst. The captain's bite back at the media probably confirmed that Bethell will be in the squad for the first Test against India, but not the XI.

At Edgbaston, Bethell was the headline act. The day could have been about new captain Brook or former skipper Jos Buttler. Bethell showed he is England's superstar-in-waiting.

His innings was one of patience, poise and pizzazz. He might have been unsettled by a relatively slow start of 11 from 19 deliveries, or rattled by a clonk on the head from Alzarri Joseph.

Instead he eased through the gears and looked nailed on for a first hundred in senior professional cricket before losing the strike towards the end of the England innings.

When West Indies dropped short, Bethell snapped into swivel pulls, the ball disappearing into the stands. When then the tourists tried to hide the ball outside off stump, he surgically dissected the field with off-drives. There was the brutality of slaps down the ground and cheek of reverse-scoops.

England have talked up Bethell's potential as a left-arm spinner and when Jamie Overton needed treatment on a finger injury, Bethell was called upon in the powerplay. He snared fellow protégé Jewel Andrew, thanks to Brook's flying catch.

Whatever Stokes said or meant to say at Trent Bridge, he ultimately confirmed the battle for a place in the Test side is between Bethell and Ollie Pope.

England have plenty of justification for sticking with Pope. He has just made a century, is Stokes' vice-captain, has a good record at number three and has been willing to be versatile over the past 12 months. Bethell is a strong option to hold in reserve in case Pope or Zak Crawley struggle, England feel they don't need Shoaib Bashir as a frontline spinner or another injury hits Stokes.

On the other hand, England under Stokes and McCullum have not shirked big selection decisions. Alex Lees, Jack Leach, James Anderson, Jonny Bairstow and Ben Foakes were all moved on when they might have had reason to think they had not done a great deal wrong.

Further back, in the build-up the 2005 Ashes, perhaps the last time when a period of Test cricket felt so defining for an England team, they were faced with a decision between the late Graham Thorpe and Kevin Pietersen.

Thorpe had just reached 100 Test caps and his form was solid. Captain Michael Vaughan went for the flair of the uncapped Pietersen. The rest is history.

Perhaps it does not matter when England decide to pull the trigger on Bethell's Test inclusion. It will come sooner or later.

"He's a confident lad," said Brook. "He knows he's a good player and we all know he's an exceptional player. He's going to have a very long England career if he keeps on batting the way he does.

"He brings so much to a side, he can bowl and field as well. To have a player like him in our side, for him to only be 21 and play the way he is, he's only going to go upwards if he keeps working hard on his game."

Bethell will not be England's coming man for long. An arrival is due.