"Don't think careers are defined by...": Rob Key on number three spot battle between Pope, Bethell

England will have a huge selection call to take as either Pope or Bethell will bat at the coveted number three spot, and the other one could miss out on being a part of the playing XI completely. Key has framed the call as a decision as to "which really good player" they should pick and said, "It is a good position to be in."

During the one-off Test against Zimbabwe earlier in late-May, Pope scored 171 to continue his string of strong showings at number three, scoring 2,024 runs in 28 Tests and 48 innings at an average of 43.06, with seven centuries and fifties each.

On the other hand, Bethell slammed three brilliant fifties at the same position against New Zealand last December, a series which saw Pope keeping wickets and shifting down the order to accommodate a player who is being hyped as the team's next superstar.

Speaking to the Telegraph's cricket podcast as quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Key said that it is a win-win situation either way.

"You have got two brilliant players who can do that role. Ollie Pope's been fantastic in that tough spot; he played brilliantly in New Zealand... alright, he was in a different role, but we have got two brilliant options in those spots," he said.

"A tough decision is when you have got no options, and you have got to just try and find something from nowhere. That is when I am sort of scratching my head. This one is: 'Which really good player are we going to pick?' It is a good position to be in," he added.

Bethell missed the Test match against Zimbabwe as he was busy with Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). While ex-English batter Michael Atherton criticised Bethell for preferring franchise over Test cricket, Key said he had no regrets.

"I do not think that the careers of Ollie Pope and Jacob Bethell are defined by what happens this week, or whether he came back to play the Zimbabwe Test. He may not have played that Test match," Key said.

"Watching his development has been extraordinary, and his going out there and playing in the IPL, I think, was brilliant for him. We will get the return on that in the future," he added.

Key also suggested the express pacer Mark Wood, currently out due to knee injury, has an outside chance of being picked during the back-end of the series.

"He potentially could be ready for the back end," he said. "You may see him by the end of the series, but certainly then when you fast-forward to the Ashes, he should be fine for that," he concluded.

The first Test of the five-match series, kickstarting both teams' ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle, will start from June 20 onwards.

The English squad: Ben Stokes (Durham) - Captain, Shoaib Bashir (Somerset), Jacob Bethell (Warwickshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Brydon Carse (Durham), Sam Cook (Essex), Zak Crawley (Kent), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Jamie Overton (Surrey), Ollie Pope (Surrey), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jamie Smith (Surrey), Josh Tongue (Nottinghamshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire). (ANI)