Next England captain Injured...Bethell

"Jacob Bethell has been ruled out of The Hundred due to a right knee injury," an England statement said. "Bethell sustained the injury during the Metro Bank ODI Series and underwent an MRI scan yesterday morning. He will begin his rehabilitation and we will update in due course."Bethell injured his right knee during England's recent ODI series win against India, and has withdrawn from the Hundred following an MRI scan on Monday morning. 

The injury is a significant blow for Bethell, who was intended to be the face of Birmingham Phoenix in the Hundred this year after he was retained on a £340,000 contract and named captain. Bethell said in a statement released by the franchise: "It's frustrating to miss out on the Hundred, especially representing Birmingham Phoenix in front of our supporters at Edgbaston.Jacob Bethell has pulled out of the Hundred with a knee injury, depriving him of valuable captaincy experience, and could be a doubt for England's Test series against Pakistan.

Bethell is widely seen as a future England captain and led them to a T20I series win in Ireland last year when Harry Brook was rested. He is an outside bet to replace Ben Stokes as Test captain, but could assume the role in one or both of the white-ball formats if Brook assumes the Test captaincy and the ECB deem it impossible for him to lead in all three.