Will Jacks shows his worth after sparse England opportunities

Will Jacks was in no doubt that Tuesday’s 84 at Chester-le-Street was his best batting display for England to date.

Granted, it is not a particularly crowded field. There have only been four half-centuries across 31 international innings. And though one of those is a 94 against Ireland, it is no slight on them to suggest this knock against a strong Australia attack (albeit shorn of Adam Zampa) trumps that one.

England were 11 for 2, chasing 305. Jacks, having arrived in the third over at 7 for 1, set about a blockbuster stand of 156 with Harry Brook that got the hosts comfortably ahead of the DLS par before the rain ended proceedings. Though it was Brook who cashed in for his first ODI century, Jacks was the headliner in their partnership (82 runs to 68).

The pace of Jacks’ innings – 23 off 30 balls after the Powerplay, half-century up off 55, then a hurry-up after taking the returning Mitchell Starc for 14 from four balls in the 23rd over – warrants special praise. Like the rest of the squad bar Adil Rashid, Jacks has been learning on the job. This third ODI means exactly half of the Surrey allrounder’s 32 List A appearances have come for England and the England Lions. Half of his four fifties in the format have come in this series.

With bilateral ODI series losing their appeal to broadcasters, and the Hundred relegating the domestic One-Day Cup to a glorified 2nd XI competition, this shoe-horned tussle with Australia is not a total inconvenience. Jacks regards it as a welcome opportunity to get to grips with the format.

“With the lack of 50-over cricket that we play now, finding the tempo can be difficult,” Jacks said. “Me and Ducky [Ben Duckett] found it in the first game but you can only get it by spending time in the middle. The position me and Brooky were in at 11 for 2, we almost had to dig in a little bit and give ourselves some time. It shows once you get a partnership how easy it is to rotate strike and score at six an over comfortably.

“The schedule only allows what it allows and that’s for people above us. We just go where we’re told. I think when you’re leading up to a major event you are going to play more but, with the way TV is now…that’s out of our control. When you play more together as a group you get back into the flow naturally. This is our first time together as a squad so it’s going to take time to get there. We’re progressing every game and hopefully when we come back next time, we’ll be one step further.

“A five-game series is nice. It’s the first time I’ve played in one. Playing the same opposition you get in a nice rhythm, the team gets time together and this squad is growing.”

That Jacks is part of this new era of English white-ball cricket, not least as the designated offspinner following Moeen Ali’s retirement, and thus a balancing allrounder, is no surprise. What is surprising is that it is only now that he is being regarded as part of the solution, even if the timing could not be better with Brendon McCullum taking the limited overs reins in the new year ahead of February’s Champions Trophy.

It is two years ago this week that Jacks made his first international appearance on England’s T20I tour of Pakistan, before returning with the Test squad and taking 6 for 161 on debut in the first Test at Rawalpindi. At the time, he felt like the coming man across all formats, yet he has still not fully arrived as an England cricketer.

That’s not squarely on him. That 2022-23 winter, the ECB sent Jacks on something of a wild goose chase. Those twin trips to Pakistan were followed by a stint at the SA20 at the start of 2023, before a Test tour of New Zealand. Not only did not play a game, but he was then seconded to Bangladesh as a reinforcement for a patchy ODI squad, in a series that began after the end of the final Test in Wellington.

Jacks ended up injuring his hip flexor in Bangladesh – something he attributes to taking 40 flights over the off-season – which ruled him out of what would have been his maiden IPL stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore. By the end of that summer, not only had he missed out on selection for the 2023 50-over World Cup, but he was left off the ECB’s central contract list – something he only discovered over social media. This despite being given the impression he would receive one before a last-minute change.

That will likely be rectified in the next round of contract offers, which are due to be ratified next week. Jacks replied with a simple “no” when asked if he knew of a prospective offer from the ECB.

There is certainly no need to state his case in the press. Since missing out last year, he went on to star for Pretoria Capitals in the SA20 and RCB in the IPL, with a stint at BPL franchise Comilla Victorians sandwiched in between. Deal or no deal, Jacks has not lacked money or status in this cycle.

He did at least make the cut for England’s 2024 T20 World Cup squad earlier this summer. The issue from the ECB’s perspective is that last year’s price is not this year’s price.

Securing Jacks’ immediate future will be expensive. But last night, the last week and indeed the last nine months have shown the outlay for the 25-year-old is probably worth it.