Jacob Bethell was born and grew up in Barbados. His father, Graham played for the Barbados team across various age groups so it was almost natural for Jacob to follow on those footsteps. He was awarded the Player of the Tournament in the U15 West Indies competition in 2017, and shortly after earned a scholarship to move to the UK.

Bethell began his career in England with Warwickshire, but it was in limited overs cricket that he really found his flair. He was picked by Welsh Fire for the 2022 Season of the Hundred, and moved to Birmingham Phoenix in the next season. He performed well in the Blast and in the Hundred, and was soon picked in England’s white ball setup. He scored a crucial 44 in just his 2nd T20I game as England managed to defeat Australia, and followed that up with a couple of match winning performances away against West Indies as well.

The performances against West Indies caught the attention of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, who added him to the Test squad for their away games against New Zealand in November, 2024. With regular keeper Jamie Smith and backup Jordan Cox suffering injuries, England were forced to hand over the gloves to Ollie Pope, and that opened up a spot for Jacob Bethell to debut at number 3 in the first Test.

Prior to his Test debut, Bethell had some other good news come his way as he was picked up by RCB in the 2025 IPL auctions.