Will Jacks dismissed Harry Brook and Joe Root to emerge as a surprise option for England in the first Ashes Test.
Jacks, a member of the full squad, played for the England second string Lions team against the Test side and took his chance with 104 runs in the match and three wickets. He bowled Brook sweeping for 19 and produced a pearler that dipped and turned to bowl Root for 31 on the final day of the match.
Advertisement
England won the intra-squad game by five wickets, with an arranged run chase allowing Root and Brook another bat after failing in the first innings. Neither took the opportunity, in sharp contrast to Ollie Pope who added 90 to his first innings century and goes into the Test series brimming with confidence when recently he was fretting over whether he would keep his place.
Harry Brook was dismissed sweeping for 19 attempting a reverse-sweep – Getty Images/Philip Brown
Jacks was a surprise selection in the Ashes squad, picked ahead of Rehan Ahmed, Jack Leach and Liam Dawson as the second spinner behind Shoaib Bashir.
Advertisement
But on the evidence of the warm-up game at Lilac Hill, Jacks has moved ahead of Bashir, who bowled poorly and was hammered to all parts by both the England and Lions batsmen after switching sides during the game.
Overall he took one for 151 at 6.2 an over with Ben Stokes slotting him for sixes in the first innings and Lions opener Ben McKinney treating his bowling with disdain at times on Saturday. The Bashir experiment may well be entering its final phase for the foreseeable future. He has been able to shrug off heavy punishment in the past by buying wickets and revelling in the backing of Stokes, but he looked downcast at Lilac Hill.
Stokes earmarked him for this tour two years ago because he felt his height and bounce would extract turn on Australian pitches. The surface at Lilac Hill was low and slow, nothing like the Test pitches, which may grant him a reprieve, but if England decide to pick a spinner for the first Test, Jacks looks a much better fit. England’s options also narrowed with the news that Ahmed, who is in the Lions squad, is returning home with a leg injury.
Advertisement
It remains likely that England will go with an all-seam attack in the first Test given the reputation of the pitch at the Optus Stadium but spin will play a part at some stage in the series, possibly the third Test in Adelaide.
Jacks played his two Tests in 2022 on England’s first tour under Brendon McCullum and took six wickets on debut in Rawalpindi but he has played only five first-class games over the past two summers for Surrey as he became a regular on the franchise circuit. He was a wildcard pick for the Ashes tour.
Quite what can be read into the Lilac Hill game is hard to deduce because it descended into the usual in-house game with little on it and resembled middle practice by the end as England chased down a target of 202. England will resume preparations for Friday’s first Test on Tuesday after two days off.
Article courtesy of
Source link
