Will Jacks on the difficulties of bowling in Australia, and why he wants to play more red ball cricket.
“At the drop of a hat, things changed so much for me,” says Will Jacks, reflecting on his call-up to England’s Ashes squad late last year. “Last winter I was focussing on white-ball cricket. I had a deal in the SA20 and hopefully then I would be at the World Cup and IPL and all of that stuff. And then suddenly I got injured, and I missed the New Zealand white ball series and then I was in the Ashes.”
Jacks was the wildcard in England’s Ashes squad after it was decided the runs he could offer in the lower order were more valuable than the potential of Shoaib Bashir’s Australia-suited offering. Having re-established himself in a new role in England’s white-ball sides that summer, taking on increased responsibility with the ball and moving down the order, he was thrust into a similar mould in the Test side.
“I really enjoyed it and it's an experience that I'll always cherish and be grateful that I was able to experience,” says Jacks of the Ashes. “But there's no hiding from the fact that I wish I could have done some things differently or better. I'd love one day to get the chance to rectify those.”
To an extent, Jacks can be seen as a victim of England’s typical approach to spin bowlers on away Ashes tours. Having played two Tests previously – two years ago and in massively different conditions in Pakistan – and with five Championship appearances under his belt across the previous two years (two of which he bowled fewer than 10 overs in) he was thrust into action with England 1-0 down.
ALSO READ: Why England's gamble on Jacks is really about hedging their bets
Over the next four Tests, he took a battering. In Adelaide, he was brutalised by Usman Khawaja and Travis Head, going at more than five an over in each innings, serving up a platter of short deliveries and half-volleys which were pulverised. At the end of the series, Jacks was England’s most expensive bowler who played in more than one Test, with an average of 53.66.
“I found it very difficult to bowl dots,” says Jacks. “I think sometimes in England you can bowl quite tight stump to stump and you can bowl dots that way, but when you're bowling at those high quality players – as someone who spent most of my time bowling in white-ball cricket – I found that I was trying to bowl faster and bowl like Nathan Lyon. I struggled to tie them down and create pressure.
“I was sat on the boundary watching Nathan Lyon bowl, and just in awe of the speed that he bowls, but that he still has a way to set a deep field and bowl dots, which is an incredibly hard thing to do. That's why he's played 140-150 Test matches. You can learn a lot from watching someone like that.”
Coming out of the Ashes, England faced a dilemma over how they would fit overs of spin into their side for their next home Test series. Pitches in early June generally are not conducive to turn, reducing but not necessarily negating the need for a specialist. However, their base instinct is to pad out their batting order in English conditions over the value of a specialist, pulling them towards the Moeen Ali archetype, the all-round package who will offer something even if there’s no need for slow bowling.
Thus, while it was unlikely after the Ashes that Jacks would maintain his position, it wasn’t out of the question. Indeed, in picking Rehan Ahmed in their first Test squad of the summer, the desire for a spinner to bat at No.8 as a counterattacker, and make things happen with the ball is evident.
Nevertheless, Jacks’ success in a similar role in white-ball cricket, by his own admission, has ruled him out. He was England’s most valuable player during the T20 World Cup in February, taking seven wickets in the Super Eights and getting England over the line on several occasions with the bat. From there he went to the IPL, where he filled a similar role for Mumbai Indians, albeit in an unsuccessful team campaign.
“You have to also be realistic,” says Jacks. “Last year, I think I played three first-class games, maybe only two the year before that, and I've been away at the IPL and I haven't played any first-class games this summer. Obviously I want to be [England’s Test spinner] and I'd love to have been in the Test squad starting this week, but I can't have any complaints. I haven't played enough.
“I would have loved to have done better in that Ashes series, and going into that New Zealand series as a bowler without experiencing that red-ball output would have been a difficult thing to do. So I completely understand selection and decisions around that, and hopefully I'll have a chance to play some red ball games throughout the rest of the summer for Surrey and get some overs into my body and try and perform.
ALSO READ: England's spin drain is a problem of their own making
“...That's the difficult thing with cricket, you can never plan too far ahead. If you try, and I've tried in the past, you think about what you're doing in six months' time, and then things change and you have to completely re-evaluate your situation. So I'm not thinking about my red-ball career in that sense at the moment, I'm just trying to go day by day, week by week.”
In addition to the busiest six months of his career, Jacks also turned 28 and got engaged over the winter. It’s not unreasonable to believe that maturity, responsibility and his second chance at England success across formats points towards a different second half of his career. From a dominating opening batter in his early 20s, to a skilled and thoughtful competitor in his next act.
“A few years ago after I played Test cricket and hadn't quite had the success I wanted for England, I was getting grown towards the franchise stuff,” says Jacks. “I think over the last 12 months I've realised that nothing competes with England, and it's taken me a while to realise that.
“Going back to the Test stuff, playing in the Ashes and experiencing everything that brings, it's really gripped me and I just want to play for England as much as possible now. Experiencing that success at the World Cup, I now know the challenge is to keep going forward and starting again this summer.
“I want to achieve everything that I can with England. It's obviously a busy lifestyle, and it can be difficult at times, but you're on the road with your best mates and there's nothing to not love about it. I just want to do as much as I can for England.”
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
