I was over-trying – Will Jacks more comfortable at number seven for England
Jacks' first bite as a white-ball international was in the top three in ODIs and T20s but he struggled by his own estimation and was out of both sides towards the end of Jos Buttler's time in charge.
However, under Brook, Jacks has been recalled and after being shuffled to number seven, the all-rounder has had two important knocks to help England claim a one-day series win over West Indies.
'I've come into it with a really fresh mindset, which has helped,' Jacks said.
Will Jacks has made contrasting knocks of 39 and 49 at number seven for England (Nick Potts/PA)
'Having that break, obviously I'd have loved to play every game, but that's life. And I think it's allowed me to reset.
'My first time in the team, I was just loving playing for England and probably not performing how I wanted. I was 'over-trying' to get the results I wanted.
'Whereas now I feel comfortable in myself, in the role and I think that's really helped.'
Jacks hit 39 off 24 balls, sharing 98 in 44 deliveries with Jacob Bethell, as England racked up 400 for eight at Edgbaston but a different tempo was required when he walked to the crease on 133 for five in a pursuit of 309 at Sophia Gardens.
He showed he has more strings to his bow than just outright power, making a mature 49 with only two fours in a 143-run stand with record-breaker Joe Root that was the cornerstone of England's three-wicket victory, which put them into an unassailable 2-0 lead in the Metro Bank series with one to play.
How he performed on both occasions showed how adaptable Jacks must be batting at six or seven, where Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran struggled for consistency and are now out of both limited-overs teams.
'I've known Harry for a very long time – we played Under-19s cricket together almost a decade ago – and when he mentioned this role to me, it came quite comfortably, and easy,' Jacks said.
'Once I knew I had that trust and it had been spoken to me, I thought a bit about how I want to play it. I know I can hit at the death if needed to and, from my experience up top, I can do what I did (in Cardiff). It's just adjusting to the situation.
'Having Joe with me there really helped and it's something I've really enjoyed in my last two games. Hopefully I can continue to stay in the middle for a long time and have success in that role.'
An absolutely MONSTROUS knock from the GOAT gets us over the line in Cardiff 😍🐐 pic.twitter.com/DPkwFw4oSl
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 1, 2025
Jacks shared fifth bowler duties with Bethell but struggled to contain the Windies, as his off-spin leaked 42 runs from four overs even if he did chip in with the wicket of centurion Keacy Carty.
'I'm loving the fact that I get to bowl,' added Jacks, who expects his new brief for England to extend into the T20s.
'The more I bowl, the quicker I'll get better at it.'
England could bring in Luke Wood for his third ODI and first since September 2023 for Tuesday's dead rubber at the Kia Oval.
Saqib Mahmood or Brydon Carse could be rested ahead of the T20 series.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald Scotland
16 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Ivan Toney says he never feared Saudi Arabia move would end his England career
Toney was overlooked by interim boss Lee Carsley in the autumn and left out of Thomas Tuchel's first selection in charge but the England boss stressed in March that it was nothing to do with him playing in the Saudi Pro League. The striker appreciated the German coach calling him with that explanation and is even more grateful after recalling him for Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Andorra and the home friendly against Senegal next week. 'It's always tough missing out on a squad, but I think that's part of the game,' Toney said. 'You have to be strong, you have to stick at it and keep doing what you do best and I managed to do that and I managed to get the recall, which was a nice feeling.' Asked if he thought moving to the Saudi Pro League may affect his England chances, he said at their training camp in Girona: 'No. 'You see with me I think if you're just doing the right thing, playing football, playing well and scoring goals – a striker's job, that's what you're in a team to do – it doesn't matter where you play in the world, I feel like you should still get the chance. Ivan Toney helped England to the final of Euro 2024 (Nick Potts/PA) 'I think it's been proven me being me being back here and being back amongst the boys. 'It feels good to see the faces again and it feels good to get stuck in.' Toney admitted the first month following August's switch was 'tough' but credits the string of loans during the early part of his career for aiding his adaptation to new surroundings in the Middle East. The striker went onto score 23 goals in 30 Saudi Pro League appearances for Al-Ahli, helping the side to win the AFC Champions League Elite competition. 'I feel like I'm in good form,' Toney said. 'As you see, I'm here, I'm still scoring goals. 'I have a lot to give. All the time I want to improve, become a better player and try and help others around me. 'So, hopefully I can keep doing that and be in the mix for the World Cup.' Toney is bidding to be among a number of Saudi-based players starring at next year's World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Bruno Fernandes has rejected a move to the Saudi Pro League (Martin Rickett/PA) There is a push for more stars to head there – with Al-Hilal falling short in their bid to coax Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes – and the striker believes the competition is far better than some suggest. 'Everyone always has their opinion,' Toney said. 'They're going to have their opinion on everything. 'You have to witness it and be there to realise what it's like. You can't have an opinion on something you've never seen. 'People always just assume certain things about things without seeing it, so I suggest people have a look before they start making judgements. 'It's tough, it's not easy. There's some good footballers and it's going in the right direction and I'm sure it will continue to do that over the years.'
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Rory McIlroy was ‘pretty annoyed' non-conforming driver news became public
Two days before the tournament was due to start the world number two had the club pulled from his bag after official testing showed it had crossed the threshold, the so-called 'trampoline effect' when the face of the club becomes more springy. Failures are supposed to remain confidential as no blame is attached to the player in question but the news broke on the Friday evening. Rory McIlroy in action (Jane Barlow/PA) World number one Scottie Scheffler's driver also failed the test but that never became public until he volunteered the information at his winner's press conference after securing his third major. As a result McIlroy, uncharacteristically, declined to speak to the media over all four days and left Quail Hollow without uttering a word in public after finishing joint-47th. Two-and-a-half weeks later the Northern Irishman was back in front of the microphone ahead of the RBC Canadian Open at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley and sought to justify his media blackout. 'I was a little p***ed off because I knew that Scottie's driver had failed but my name was the one that was leaked. It was supposed to stay confidential,' said McIlroy. 'I didn't want to get up there and say something that I regretted, either, because I'm trying to protect Scottie – I don't want to mention his name – I'm trying to protect TaylorMade. I'm trying to protect the USGA, PGA of America, myself. 'With Scottie's stuff, that's not my information to share. That process is supposed to be kept confidential and it wasn't for whatever reason. That's why I was pretty annoyed at that.' McIlroy, a two-time Canadian Open winner, added: 'The PGA was a bit of a weird week. I didn't play well the first day, so I wanted to go practise, so that was fine. Second day we finished late, I wanted to go back and see (daughter) Poppy before she went to bed. 'The driver news broke, Saturday I was supposed to tee off at 8:20 in the morning and I didn't tee off until almost two in the afternoon, another late finish, and I was just tired, wanted to go home. 'Then Sunday, I just wanted to get on the plane and go back to Florida.' Winning at Augusta brought McIlroy his long-awaited career Grand Slam, becoming only the sixth male golfer to achieve the feat, but he admits now he has conquered that peak things have changed for him. Asked what challenge was left for him the 36-year-old said: 'I don't know if I'm chasing anything. 'I would certainly say that the last few weeks I've had a couple of weeks off and going and grinding on the range for three or four hours every day is maybe a little tougher than it used to be. "It took me a little longer to get one of those." – @McIlroyRory. A heartwarming fan interaction to start your day 💙 — RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) June 4, 2025 'You have this event in your life that you've worked towards and it happens, sometimes it's hard to find the motivation to get back on the horse and go again. 'I think the last two weeks have been good for me just as a reset, just to sort of figure out where I'm at in my own head, what I want to do, where I want to play. 'I thought it was a good time to reset some goals.'
The Herald Scotland
2 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
French wildcard Lois Boisson makes history at Roland Garros with semi-final spot
Boisson dropped to the clay with her hands over her eyes in emotional scenes on a packed, ecstatic Court Philippe-Chatrier. 'I'm just proud of myself, because it was really tough for me to go into the semi-final,' she said. 'Every match was really tough, so I'm just proud about how it ends every time. And proud about what I do on the court.' Boisson's earnings from the year so far were £15,000, and she has now pocketed £580,000 for her fortnight's work in Paris. Her run has echoes of Emma Raducanu's charge through qualifying to win the US Open in 2021. If she goes on to win it, it would be even more unbelievable, as Raducanu was at least on the radar having reached the fourth round at Wimbledon before her New York triumph. Mirra Andreeva suffered in the second set (Jon Buckle/PA) And Boisson, who faces second seed Coco Gauff for a place in the final, freely admits she is dreaming of claiming the title. 'I think every kid who plays tennis has the dream to win a slam. More for French player to win Roland Garros, for sure,' she added. 'So, yeah, it's a dream. For sure I will go for the dream, because my dream is to win it, not to be in the semi-final. So I will try to do my best for it.' It was all too much for Russian 18-year-old Andreeva, who had two set points in the first but suffered a complete meltdown in the second. She told the crowd to 'shut up', received a code violation for whacking a ball into the stands, burst into tears and shouted at members of her coaching team to leave. Andreeva said: 'I think that the way I managed to kind of not react to anything in the first set – I think that if I would have been able to do this throughout the whole match, would have been great.' Boisson had suffered a career-threatening ACL injury before what was supposed to be her debut here last year and spent nine months recovering. She had won just one Tour-level match before Roland Garros, against Harriet Dart whose unpleasant comment that her opponent needed to wear deodorant must now be eating away at the British player this fortnight. Boisson is projected to rise to 65 in the WTA rankings, which would place her above Dart. Gauff had earlier scrapped her way past her fellow American Madison Keys, the seventh seed, 6-7 (6) 6-4 6-1. The 21-year-old faces arguably an even bigger test on Thursday against an inspired Boisson and 15,000 raucous Parisians on Court Philippe-Chatrier. 'I think there are two ways I have done it in the past,' said Gauff. 'Either, A, just pretend they're cheering for you, or B, just using it and not letting that get to you. 'I think it's just something that I will mentally prepare for if it were to happen and expect and be ready for.' Boisson had spent the morning hitting with none other than men's top seed Jannik Sinner. It seemed to do both the world of good, with Italian Sinner dispatching Alexander Bublik in straight sets. The Kazakh, who knocked out Jack Draper on Monday, was beaten 6-1 7-5 6-0.
