Will Jacks has been drafted as England’s Ashes wildcard, with Harry Brook promoted to Test vice-captain ahead of the hotly-anticipated winter tour.
Jacks has largely been viewed as a white-ball specialist during his international career, winning his only two Test caps in Pakistan almost three years ago, but was handed the final spot in a 16-man squad that travels to Australia with hopes of reclaiming the urn for the first time since 2015.
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As expected, limited-overs skipper Brook has leapfrogged previous incumbent Ollie Pope as right-hand man to Ben Stokes, with Pope now likely to be locked in a battle with Jacob Bethell for the number three spot.
Chris Woakes was not considered for selection due to the dislocated shoulder he suffered against India at the end of the summer.
Jacks is best known for his power-hitting in short-form cricket, but the 26-year-old all-rounder has effectively been selected as a back-up off-spinner to Shoaib Bashir, edging out the likes of Jack Leach, Liam Dawson and Rehan Ahmed.
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The vast majority of the squad was set in stone, with England rebuilding their team with this series in mind over a year ago, but managing director Rob Key and head coach Brendon McCullum’s habit of springing surprise calls has struck again.
Jacks took six wickets in Rawalpindi on his Test debut in December 2022, did not add to that tally in his next appearance at Multan and appeared to have slipped out of England’s red-ball plans entirely.
In the intervening period England have chosen Leach, Ahmed, Bashir, Dawson and Tom Hartley to fill their slow-bowling vacancies, even dragging Moeen Ali out of retirement to plug a gap during the 2023 Ashes.
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Harry Brook has been promoted to vice-captain (Adam Davy/PA)
Now, after just three first-class appearances and five wickets for Surrey in this season’s Rothesay County Championship, Jacks is back in contention.
He is currently nursing a broken finger, detected on the recent T20 trip to Ireland, and will miss the pre-Ashes tour of New Zealand to complete his recovery.
He is neither a novice nor a banker when it comes to bowling, with a career haul of 49 first-class wickets at 42.22 and a total of 15 across formats for his country. His fielding and ball-striking would both be a considerable upgrade on Bashir, should form or fitness mean a change is needed, but McCullum has already made it clear the latter remains the team’s number one.
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The final fast bowling place, earmarked for Jamie Overton until he decided to step away from red-ball cricket earlier this month, goes to Durham’s Matthew Potts. The seamer won the last of his 10 Test caps in New Zealand last December but lends a physically robust element to an attack with its share of fitness issues.
England head coach Brendon McCullum (right) and Ben Stokes (Ben Whitley/PA)
Mark Wood is in the squad despite missing the entire English summer with a knee injury, fellow quick Jofra Archer is only two Tests into his long-form comeback after four years of setbacks and Stokes’ ability to play a full role with the ball is up in the air following his recent shoulder problems.
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Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse complete the bowling group.
That means no place for veteran Woakes, who was an ever-present in the recent battles with India but ended his hopes of one last Australian adventure when he wrecked his shoulder diving in the field.
His bravery in batting one-handed in a sling to try and secure the series win at the Kia Oval may now be the final act of the 36-year-old’s Test career.
England’s Ashes squad: B Stokes (c), H Brook (vc), J Archer, G Atkinson, S Bashir, J Bethell, B Carse, Z Crawley, B Duckett, W Jacks, O Pope, M Potts, J Root, J Smith (wkt), J Tongue, M Wood.
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