England select spinner Jacks for second Ashes Test

Will Jacks’ first Test match in three years will be against Australia in Brisbane, which England included a spin option for.

The only change to the side that was severely defeated in the first Test in Perth is the off-spinner, who replaces Mark Wood who was injured in the pace bowling match.

The 27-year-old was chosen for the day-night game at the Gabba ahead of Shoaib Bashir, partly because of how much England has more starting batting at No. 8 in his batting lineup.

Usman Khawaja, an opener for Australia, has been declared unable to play in the pink-ball Test at the Gabba because of the back spasms he experienced in Perth.

Travis Head will continue opening the batting after posting his match-winning century in the first Test despite the 38-year-old’s absence.

In the absence of a replacement, Australia will have Josh Inglis or Beau Webster, who were both born in Leeds.

Despite focusing a lot on white-ball cricket in recent years, Jacks was a left-field selection in England’s Ashes squad and has the chance to win a third Test cap.

This year, the Surrey man took five wickets in 74.1% overs, winning only three first-class matches.

England’s and Jacks’ Surrey team-mate Ollie Pope said, “Everyone knows what a brilliant cricketer he is.”

We’ve seen his white-ball game really advance thanks to his growth over the past few years. His red-ball has a fantastic opportunity, too.

Everyone has seen the skills he has in the white-ball format because he obviously has that style of spin bowling where he can get some bounce and turn off the pitch. He can withstand a strong attack.

Jacks, who has 60 white ball caps, is primarily a batting all-rounder, but he only took six wickets in his Test debut against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2022.

Australia off-spinner Nathan Lyon has a better average, economy rate, and strike-rate bowling with a pink ball than a red one, despite the perception that day-night tests are best for fast bowlers.

England captain Ben Stokes cited how Australia uses Lyon in relation to the “tactical element” of day-night Tests.

Stokes remarked, “They play a lot of day-night cricket here.”

There are both those factors to take into account when using their spinner as an attacking option or more to pass the overs more quickly and have more time with the new ball under lights.

Wood’s first competitive game since February, when he had knee surgery, ended up playing the Perth Test, and the Durham fast bowler has since experienced soreness in his left knee.

In the two-day Test, Wood only bowled 11 overs, so Jofra Archer, Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson, and Stokes have four options if England must still rely on seam.

England can point to Jacks’ all-round versatility in the distinctive day-night setting, but Bashir’s absence is still a blow.

Since being promoted to England’s first-choice spinner at the start of the 2024 home summer, the 22-year-old has never been excluded when he is in good form.

Since breaking his finger in the third Test against India in July, Bashir has not played competitive cricket. In that moment, he took the winning wicket for England at Lord’s.

In England’s only Ashes warm-up match against the England Lions, he struggled, returning 2-145 from 24 overs.

Before the first Test, England’s 12-man squad named Bashir, and coach Brendon McCullum said he anticipated the Somerset international to play a significant part in the series.

Jacks now has a chance to cement his place in the lineup, especially if England can bring the series to an end with a victory at the Gabba for the first time since 1986.

England has lost three day-night matches against Australia, including three victories in their previous 16 Test matches.

Australia’s only defeat in 14 floodlit Tests, including a shocking 2024 defeat to the West Indies, occurred at the Gabba.

We know they have a strong record here, but Pope said, “We know they haven’t been unbeatable.”

We’ll use the crowd, are familiar with the pitch conditions, and have also played a few pink-ball games.

“It’s just trying to keep our skills at the forefront while not thinking too much about the history of it in terms of this place and this terrain.”