Jacob Bethell will miss England’s white-ball matches in Australia after a fresh problem with his right knee interrupted his comeback. His withdrawal removes a player who had been picked for both formats, while England have brought James Coles and Eddie Jack into their ODI group following the losses of Bethell and Josh Tongue.
The decision followed a knee scan. Bethell had been working his way back into competitive cricket after his previous appearance in July 2026, but this tour will no longer provide that return. The immediate focus shifts from match preparation to a specialist assessment.
Specialist assessment comes next
According to the ICC report, Bethell is due to travel back to the UK on Saturday for a consultation. The next medical assessment will therefore be important to the decisions that follow. His inclusion in the Test squad for South Africa should be read separately from his withdrawal in Australia: being named in that squad does not, by itself, establish that he is fit to play.
The South Africa series forms part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025/27. For England, the change means managing an immediate white-ball absence alongside preparations for that later Test assignment. A firm return date should wait for a further medical update rather than be inferred from the published squad.
Replacements and the upcoming programme
Coles and Jack are expected in Perth on Thursday. They join the ODI squad after Tongue’s earlier withdrawal and the latest setback for Bethell. These additions are squad changes; they do not settle the playing team for an individual match.
Australia and England begin the ODI series in Perth on November 13. The remaining ODIs are in Adelaide on November 15 and Hobart on November 18. The T20I programme then moves through Melbourne, Carrara, Brisbane and Sydney before finishing in Canberra on December 2. The opening T20I is on November 21, with the other games on November 24, November 27 and November 29.