Mumbai: England’s Will Jacks has a tough role as an all-rounder. He is not among their first-choice batters or frontline bowlers, but showing great character he is making vital contributions with both bat and ball to make a difference to his team at this World Cup.
Jacks has repeatedly dug England out of tricky situations, contributing 191 runs batting in the finisher’s role at No 7. In the Super Eights, he delivered in the big games for nerve-jangling wins over Sri Lanka, Pakistan and New Zealand.
Filling the duties of the extra bowler behind the frontline five, he has chipped in with useful breakthroughs claiming seven wickets with his off-spin. Four Man of the Match awards underline his value to his side.
In Thursday’s semi-final against India at the Wankhede Stadium, England will be banking on their spin all-rounder to make an impact.
“Will’s been amazing, it’s such a different role for him than what he’s used to I guess, scoring vital runs at number seven and bowling some very tough overs and taking many wickets,” his teammate Sam Curran said on Tuesday at the Wankhede.
Jacks’ best show has been against New Zealand. After finishing with figures of 4-0-23-2 — his wickets included the in-form Finn Allen and Glenn Phillips — he came and hit an 18-ball 32 not out at No 7.
In a chase of 160, England needed 43 off the final 18 deliveries, and Jacks shared an unbroken, match-winning stand of 44 from 16 balls with debutant Rehan Ahmed. Against Sri Lanka, he claimed three wickets in the powerplay for figures of 4-0-22-3 for another man of the match performance..
In the big semi-final against the hosts and defending champions, Jacks’ role is also important for England because he is well-versed with the conditions at the Wankhede, being a regular Mumbai Indians player last season.
“We’ve been joking that he’s the local boy here, he plays for Mumbai in the IPL so I guess he’s got a lot of knowledge on this ground. We’ve got a lot of people who love playing. He’s got four man of the matches for us so he’s been absolutely amazing and let’s hope on Thursday he can get his fifth man of the match,” said Curran.
Along with Jacks, Curran’s role as a pace bowling all-rounder will be equally important for England’s chances in the semi-final. The left-handed batter who bats one spot above Jacks, at No 6, has scored 149 runs in seven innings and claimed six wickets.
In a high-scoring ground like the Wankhede, Curran’s challenge will be to bowl the tough, end overs of the game.
“Thursday night it’s going to be a pretty good wicket and I guess I’ll probably be used a lot more with the ball, so I’m excited for that challenge. I think the best thing we’ve done is adapt really well as players and we’ve had guys chipping in at different stages and hopefully on Thursday evening I could have a really good game myself,” the all-rounder said.
“We know India has a fantastic batting lineup and we’ll come up with our plans. If it’s a slow pitch we’ll use our slow balls and if it’s not we’ll use all our other skills. It’s a very challenging ground to be a bowler and I think both sides have got really good balanced teams, so I think it’s going to be a cracking game.”
