Jacob Bethell has gone platinum. He has not broken into the music industry just yet, but England's wunderkind used his time off at the end of the season to refresh his bright blond shock of hair and arrived in New Zealand this weekend with a golden chance ahead of him.
He may not have an England crest tattooed on his biceps to prove his allegiance, but Bethell's haircut is as much of a statement as the 'skunk' that Kevin Pietersen wore two decades ago in similar circumstances. For not since Pietersen in 2005 has an England batter gone into a white-ball series with such a clear opportunity to lock down a spot for the subsequent Ashes series.
The obvious difference is that Pietersen had scored 21 first-class hundreds by the time that his one-day performances - most notably, a match-winning 91 not out at Bristol - secured his place ahead of the late Graham Thorpe for the first Test a few weeks later. Bethell has not scored any; as such, his case to beat Ollie Pope to the No. 3 spot in Perth relies on potential far more than performance.
There may be little obvious relationship between three T20Is and three ODIs on small grounds in New Zealand and an Ashes series in Australia, but narrative is a powerful drug. After 61 Tests - already more than Jonathan Trott - Pope is a known entity, whose average has stabilised at 35. Bethell's may yet do the same, but the uncertainty is precisely what makes him so enticing to an England management obsessed with upside.
Bethell's role in England's white-ball teams became steadily more prominent last month: having mainly batted at No. 6, he shuffled up to No. 4 in the final two ODIs against South Africa, and moved up to No. 3 in the T20I side. If that continues in New Zealand, he will have more than enough time in the middle to press his case with substantial scores; all the while, Pope will have to watch on from afar.
"I'll be playing cricket, but whether that has any impact on what actually happens going into that Ashes series, I don't know," Bethell said at Thursday's Toyota PCA Awards. "Form's a big thing in sport… I'll just try to put in performances to win games for England, and if that does end up in an Ashes call-up into the XI, then I'll be taking that with both hands, hopefully."
England have indicated that they will take a late call on the identity of their No. 3, with the logic that selection dilemmas are often solved by circumstance. Harry Brook's withdrawal from their tour to India last year for personal reasons avoided a middle-order logjam, and England are only a rolled ankle or a broken finger away from being spared a headache for Australia.
The downside of that approach is that it leaves room for speculation, which will only increase over the next month. But in turn, that only adds relevance to Bethell's white-ball opportunities in New Zealand: if he can overcome the pressure of knowing that his Ashes spot is on the line, then he should be well equipped for the intense scrutiny of a Test series in Australia.
Bethell has played in Australia before: he scored a hundred from No. 3 while captaining England Under-19s three winters ago, and had a modest season for Melbourne Renegades last year. He found conditions "pretty different to what I expected" in the Big Bash - where some pitches are slow and low - but is confident that he will be up to the task this time.
"I've definitely had a little think about the kind of challenge that I'm going to face over there," he said. "The only thing I'll be looking to do is try to adapt as quickly as possible. I think my game is pretty suited to Australian conditions, in terms of [there being] a bit more bounce [than in England], so that'll be something that I'm looking to capitalise on."
Bethell spent two weeks with his family in Barbados at the end of the summer, and reflected on a summer in which he scored his maiden professional hundred and captained England for the first time with a level of disappointment. "I'm actually not very happy with the summer I had, but it's something that has lit a fire in me," he said.
It is that attitude that has impressed so many players and coaches in Bethell's career to date, and means that he is a genuine contender to replace Pope - a man with nine Test hundreds - at No. 3 in Perth on November 21. He could not hope for a better chance to prove it than over the next three weeks in New Zealand.