From emergency surgery to match-winner: Jacks' five-for helps England draw first ODI blood against Sri Lanka
England claimed first blood in their one-day international series against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street, rolling the tourists for 176 to defend a modest total of 265 and take a 1-0 lead into Thursday's second match at Headingley.
Harry Brook had called on his players to continue the “high-octane” cricket witnessed during their clean sweep of the Twenty20s, but this latest victory was more of a slow-burn affair. Gone was the neck-arching carnage of the previous week and in its place, on a tired end-of-season surface, England were bowled out for 265 in 48.1 overs, Brook top-scoring with 67 under a warm September sun.
Jacks the match-winner
The day belonged to Will Jacks, whose role was significant with both bat and ball. His unbeaten 46, including 18 runs taken off the 48th over, steered England away from a potentially fatal collapse – without it, Sri Lanka might well have had a sniff. His off-breaks then returned career-best one-day figures of five for 22 from seven overs, including the scalp of Sri Lanka's top-scorer, Dunith Wellalage for 45, as he mixed up pace and angles to repeatedly punch holes in the tourists' line-up.
Only Vic Marks, with five for 20 against New Zealand in Wellington back in 1984, boasts better ODI figures by an England spinner. Jacks sealed his first five-fer in remarkable fashion, bowling No 11 Dilshan Madushanka with a ripper to confirm a comfortable win – and England's first successful defence of a sub-300 total since 2022.
It was all the more remarkable given what the 27-year-old has been through. Jacks was supposed to be in Edinburgh last month celebrating his mum's 60th birthday when what he thought was a “tummy bug” turned out to be appendicitis, leading to a rushed trip to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and emergency surgery.
“It was just really bad really quickly so we had to go. It was, obviously, completely random and quite scary. I was lucky to be looked after really well by the NHS,” Jacks said. “Luckily they were able to do a slight incision and not have to rip me open completely.”
Given an initial four-week recovery period, Jacks returned a few days early to captain the Lions in a warm-up against Sri Lanka on 11 September, then played in all three T20s of England's series sweep. The extra work behind the scenes to rebuild his core strength made the 4.3 degrees of turn he found at Chester-le-Street – the most he has produced at home in his ODI career – even more impressive, albeit helped by a slow pitch.
“It was more of a confidence thing,” he said. “It helped that we were playing the T20s first and I was bowling a maximum of four overs. If I am honest, I only bowled five days before the first game because I was building up my strength and trying to get some fitness back. I didn't bowl too much in the T20 series, which probably benefited me. It has been OK.”
Brook's praise for his vice-captain
The win was Brook's 11th as England's ODI captain, nudging him into credit after 10 defeats and continuing a quiet resurgence in the format this year. For Jacks, the growing influence is plain: he is vice-captain for these Sri Lanka series in the absence of Jacob Bethell and has become an increasingly vocal member of the group. It was telling that when England's T20 World Cup campaign began earlier this year amid the cloud of Brook's Wellington episode, Jacks was first put up to speak to the media.
“[Jacks] is not a part-timer, he's a very good off-spinner,” said Brook. “He can spin the ball big and contain. He could have moaned and groaned about playing as an all-rounder but he's accepted that and become a very vital player for us over the past 18 months. He's a very good leader, with bat, ball and in the field.”
A scrappy chase and an inspired debutant
Sri Lanka, on the wrong side of the toss, never truly felt in the hunt, although WinViz actually had them as marginal favourites at the halfway stage. Batting had become trickier after an initial 10-over power-play in which the hosts reached 61 for one, Tom Banton bowled by a beauty from Asitha Fernando.
Just as relevant to England falling short of 300 was a sparkling debut from Sachindu Colombage, a 28-year-old wrist-spinner with a jerky, quirky action who claimed three for 44 – a man who was playing for Downham Stow in the East Anglian Premier League last summer. Gary Kirsten, Sri Lanka's head coach, looked beyond the unremarkable domestic record, and the drift and dip Colombage produced undid Joe Root and Jos Buttler. Root was trapped on the back foot, hearing his off-stump rattled for 44 – his first ODI dismissal in some 416 deliveries, a streak of 404 runs going back to England's 2-1 win in Sri Lanka last winter – while Buttler was pinned lbw for 31 by one that straightened.
The key wicket was Brook, however, who had looked immovable until he charged the seamer Dushmantha Chameera and skewed a scythe to deep point. It was one of the rare times England looked to clear the rope in what became their first ODI innings for more than seven years without a six. His demise triggered the loss of four wickets for 29 runs in 46 balls, a promising 182 for three becoming 211 for seven, with Rehan Ahmed run out by a direct hit from Charith Asalanka in the ring. Kevin Pietersen, England's new mentor, had stressed the need for better strike rotation before this match – but there was never a single as Ahmed set off, realised his error, and then pretty much gave up.
Watching all this unfold was Jacks, who with support from Gus Atkinson steered England to a defendable total, batting responsibly – only one four in his first 43 deliveries – to extend the innings from 211 for seven to 265. Save for Jofra Archer, who took a bit of tap at the end of his all-format summer, Brook's attack suppressed their opponents, with Jamie Overton picking up two wickets bowling cross-seamers and the loss of Adil Rashid (out of the series with a hand injury) not felt.
A finisher finding his feet
It is 18 months since Jacks moved from the top of the order to the middle as England's finisher in T20 and 50-over cricket – a move that has taken adjustment given his preference to bat in the top three, but one in which he now averages 43 and strikes at over 100. After success as England's player of the tournament at the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka, this was another sign of his growing confidence.
“I feel very comfortable going out there on the day and any situation can arise which I really enjoy,” Jacks said. “It is not the same every day which you get opening so it keeps that fresh element to the game. At the beginning of my career it felt like you are just fighting to play in the next game, which is not the best place to be. It is a luxury to know, say when we go to Headingley, that I will be in the team. You can't take that for granted and appreciate the hard work you have done to get there.”
It is easy to forget Jacks began the year in England's Test side as their spinning all-rounder during the Ashes – a role now filled by Dan Lawrence. He has signed up for a stint with MI Cape Town in the SA20 this winter and has white-ball trips to Pakistan, Australia and South Africa to come as England build towards the 50-over World Cup next autumn. One downside of a possible Test recall would be losing more time to rearrange that Edinburgh trip. “It didn't go how we planned but we will have to find time to redo it,” Jacks smiled.