Will Jacks embraces 'clarity' at No.7 as second England coming begins

"Imagine getting us five-down and Will Jacks comes out to bat?" Harry Brook had reflected on Thursday evening in Birmingham.

It certainly was novel. Prior to Thursday's first ODI against West Indies, Jacks had never previously batted in that position in List A cricket. In fact, he'd only done it once in all white-ball cricket - a couple of months ago in the IPL, a forgettable 1 off 1 for Mumbai Indians against Delhi Capitals.

His match-morphing cameo at Edgbaston - a boundary-filled 39 off 24 deliveries, in a vital stand of 98 with Jacob Bethell that put England out of reach - was an impressive hard launch in a new position, albeit in step with an attacking batter. But it was Sunday's innings in Cardiff, a more restrained 49 off 58, that highlighted the tactical dexterity he can bring to the role.

Jacks struck just two fours while soaking up 20 dot-balls, but his entire role was geared towards handing the strike to an inspired Joe Root, whose unbeaten 166 went on to win England the match and the series. Root credited Jacks for his "maturity", "skill level" and "calmness" throughout their stand of 143.

There was a bit of Freaky Friday about it all. Root is usually the one getting the hitters on strike - a point not lost on either of them. "I did actually mention that to him at one stage," Jacks said.

"He played beautifully and made it very easy for me. I think the situation just required me to build a partnership. That's all I looked to do really - try and build a score, taking as limited risks as possible, and that ended up just being ones and twos. When a boundary was required, he did that with ease, like he does."

The origins of Jacks' new role are intriguing enough, and it's worth walking backwards through the reasoning. When Brook took on the white-ball captaincy, he identified the need for a few more allrounders and a wider variety of spin.

Under the previous regime, Liam Livingstone had been picked to perform a similar role, with his legspin/offspin repertoire and lower-order hitting potential. However, his combined total of 93 runs in nine innings at the 50-over World Cup and Champions Trophy highlighted a series of situational blindspots, and he has since been put out to pasture.

Jacks and Bethell, Brook thought, with their right and left-arm fingerspin, could provide those options - combining as the fifth bowler - while deepening the batting. After two games, that logic is playing out perfectly.

At the time of conception, both players were out at the IPL, with Jacks operating with a similar "neither here nor there" remit with Mumbai. Bowling occasionally and batting without a set position had him thinking on his feet, trying to become a more malleable cricketer.

With Jacks in particular, Brook knew he had the wares to do the job. The pair have come through the ranks together, notably when Brook was Jacks' Under-19 captain. That pre-existing relationship, as far as Jacks was concerned, made transitioning into an allrounder role that little bit easier.

"I've known Harry for a very long time. We played Under-19s cricket together almost a decade ago. When he mentioned this role to me, it came quite comfortably, and easy. 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.

"At the IPL just now, I was carded at No.3 and a couple of times I ended up having to go down No.6 and 7. That's just limited-overs cricket, you have to be ready for anything. We practice that and I think it's just about clarity of mind. Very rarely in 50-over cricket am I going to have to go out there and try and hit my first few balls for six. You always have more time you think, it's just about adjusting to that with clarity."

The "clarity" Jacks speaks of around 50-over cricket has been learned the hard way by this group. Of the many talking points emanating from the blowouts at the 2023 50-over World Cup and this year's Champions Trophy was the lack of List A experience among the players. Jacks, for instance, has made 17 of his 39 appearances in the format for England.

It seems, though, the offshoots of the team's recent ODI form - these victories over West Indies ended a run of seven defeats in a row - has been a greater understanding of the rhythms of the 50-over format, and a chance to bed in for a generation reared on 30 overs less.

"I think watching 50-over cricket and thinking about it over the last year or two, we all realise there's so much time. Coming from T20, that's not something you always have the luxury of," Jacks said.

"Even going in the other day [first ODI], I came in during the 41st over - there was still so much time to go. That was on my mind [in the second ODI], and that was what we spoke about… even at 7-and-a-half, 8-an-over it got up to, there was no urgency. We know we can chase that with ease. It was just about staying calm, staying in control, and taking it as deep as possible."

Jacks' experience of building into a T20 innings as an opening batter translates well for his new gig. Though he does have limited experience at the death - of his 202 T20 innings, he has only batted in the last four overs 11 times - he still strikes at 221.87 at an average of 53.25 in this period.

This is still something of a make-over for Jacks. Despite 42 caps across all formats, including two Tests in Pakistan in 2022, he has never quite belonged to any of England's three sides. A series of disappointments have punctuated the last two years, including missing out on the first tranch of multi-year central contracts in 2023 - despite being told he would be one of the 26 - before missing out on the Champions Trophy squad earlier this year.

Though he has scratched his competitive itch with high-profile franchise gigs in the IPL and SA20, being back in the national reckoning clearly nourishes him. Particularly as he feels he snatched at the first part of his white-ball career.

"I do," Jacks answered immediately, when if he thought this was a new chapter. "I've come into it with a really fresh mindset, which has helped. 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.

"I think 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."