Despite being highly touted before this Ashes series began, it took the painful, yet somehow inevitable, implosion of Ollie Pope at number three before Jacob Bethell was finally able to crack the England side ahead of the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne.
Since then the 22-year-old from Barbados has looked every bit a star of the not-too-distant future, with two fine knocks in as many Ashes Tests, including his debut first-class century in the England second innings at the SCG.
Where Pope was too often an agent of top-order chaos, Bethell has offered a much-needed dose of calm and poise.
Which of course begs the question, why did it take so long for England to pick him?
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Composed, confident and looking very much at home on the game’s biggest stage, Bethell is surely the future of England’s top order and not unlike a young Michael Clarke, who he even bares something of a resemblance to with his peroxide blond locks, he can also bowl handy left arm orthodox.
As batting partners came and went on day four of the fifth and final Test, Bethell displayed a refreshing combination of technique, patience and determination that has been sadly lacking for so much of the series from his Bazballing colleagues, who far too often have chosen self-destruction over service to the wider cause.
From a 183-run first innings deficit Bethell methodically guided his side towards scoreboard parity, then a lead, and while England may well still lose this series 4-1 on day five in Sydney, it will be through little fault of his own.
These Ashes have long since been lost, but the belated injection of youth has given England—and dare we say the Barmy Army—something to sing and genuinely smile about as the focus now moves to the next Ashes series in the English summer of 2027.
No doubt the Australians are very glad the England selectors got things so terribly wrong.