Will Jacks is the shock inclusion in England’s squad for the 2025/26 Ashes, leapfrogging the likes of Rehan Ahmed, Liam Dawson and Jack Leach to be named as their second spinner.
Jacks last played a Test during England’s 2022 whitewash of Pakistan, and England have trialled five other spinners in that time, with varying degrees of success. And yet it’s Jacks, who has played just three games in the 2025 County Championship, who has won a coveted spot in the squad for a tour that is set to define this era of England Test cricket. It’s certainly a brave selection, and, on the face of it, a baffling one too. But scratch deeper and, as with plenty of Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s decisions, there is logic there too.
Also read: England announce Ashes squad: Pope displaced as vice-captain, surprise second spinner named
What is England’s thinking behind picking Jacks?
Jacks’ selection begins to make sense if you think back to that 2022 tour of Pakistan, and why England wanted him in their team then. On that tour, England expected that their spin attack would need to bowl a lot, and didn’t expect them to have much penetration, and so picked Jacks, alongside Liam Livingstone, to bowl a lot and lengthen the batting, also emboldening their madcap batting, in an attempt to inject time into the game. Jacks had performed a similar role for Surrey that season, averaging either side of 50 with bat and ball, but bowling about three full days’ worth of overs. As it was, Jacks claimed six-for on debut, though that was largely down to Pakistan attempting to attack him in the face of a big total. Still, that was another test passed: Jacks can be a tricky bowler to take down.
Now heading to Australia, and England’s extreme backing of the inexperienced Shoaib Bashir reveals a similar conclusion. Aside from the tall offie, they don’t have much confidence in any of their spinners to be able to find penetration against Australia. And so rather than pick a traditional second spinner, they’ve picked a bowler who they would back to get through a number of overs, and to bat capably in the top seven.
Jacks isn’t a second spinner, he’s a Ben Stokes back-up
The other hint to England’s thinking can be found in their selection for the final Test against India, for which Stokes was injured. In the past, England have opted to pick Chris Woakes as a seam-bowling all-rounder at No.7, and back their top six to make the runs required. This time, with Bashir also injured, they plumped for Jacob Bethell at No.6, with four specialist seamers alongside Joe Root and Bethell as part-time tweakers.
Also read: The irresistible rise of Jacob Bethell
In the event, Bethell’s bowling was barely used. But it still opened up another balance of the side. If England did have a top seven batter who could bowl passable spin, then that, alongside four seamers, is a better way to rebalance the side, especially given there is no other seaming all-rounder in the country capable of bowling in the mid-80s and batting in the top seven, especially in Australia. Woakes’ injury and Sam Curran’s sidelining have helped Jacks’ cause, even if the latter has returned to the frame in white-ball cricket.
If Stokes does need a game off during the Ashes, don’t be surprised if it’s Jacks who comes in at No.6 or 7, with Bashir also making way for an extra seamer.
Why not Rehan Ahmed?
Fine, England might need a spin-bowling all-rounder. But why not go for the 21-year-old who has spearheaded a historic promotion tilt, smashing hundred after hundred in the top order, while also claiming 13 wickets in a game with his leg-spin? Rehan Ahmed has averaged over 50 with the bat and under 20 with the ball in the County Championship this season, and yet it’s Jacks, playing just a handful of games, who has got the nod.
It was likely a close call, but, if you’re being cold-eyed, you could argue that, as brilliant as Rehan’s season has been, he hasn’t answered all the questions you’d want of a top six batter to play in Australia. There is a suggestion that, if he has a weakness, it is against bowling in excess of 135kph, when his back leg can jut slightly towards square leg with him leg side of the ball. Jacks, in T20 cricket as well as in Division One of the County Championship, has shown he can hit bowlers of Test speed and quality.
Still, perhaps there could have been room for both, and even for more after that. England’s touring squad is smaller than they usually take to Australia, with Ollie Pope being the back-up keeper also slimming the group selected. There could be a role for Jacks to play, but if Bashir were to break a finger, as he did this summer, he would be the spinner charged with filling in. Second spinner selections rarely decide Ashes series, but, as England embark on the tour to end all tours, every choice needs to pay off. There is logic in Jacks’ selection, but also risk. What we know about England is that that’s how they like it.
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