You do not expect spinners to dominate at Chester-le-Street, but this hot summer has produced strange events, none more so than Jacks recording the second-best figures by an England spinner in one-day international cricket having previously only taken three wickets in 16 games at home.
Sachindu Colombage, Sri Lanka’s debutant leggie who was playing club cricket in East Anglia a year ago, laid down a marker as he impressed with three for 44 starting with the wicket of Joe Root, his first dismissal in one-day international cricket since February.
England’s 89-run win was completed by Jacks taking three for none in four balls as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 176, their run chase a timid effort when they had a sniff of victory after restricting England to 265 and preventing them from hitting a six for the first time in an innings since 2019.
Vice-captain Jacks has evolved under Brooks’s leadership from an opening batsman to middle-order finisher who can chip in with the ball. “He is just a good leader with bat ball and in the field. He is buying into everything we want to do,” Brook said. “We are always talking about adapting to conditions and he has done it really well since coming back in. He could have moaned and ground about batting in the middle order and playing as an all-rounder but has accepted that will be his palace for a long time.”
Brook thought England made “just about par” on a very dry pitch and was reluctant to shower too much praise on batting consultant Kevin Pietersen, whose spin class the day before concentrated on making runs on a slow surface. “It will take time, more than one day. He’s not a miracle worker but it helps the more opportunity we get,” Brook said.
England were stretched and Pietersen will be happy. He told them to think about their approach, that in this type of game “rotation of strike is incredibly important”. He was right, they ran well, apart from Rehan Ahmed, and did not hit a six in an innings for the first time in seven years.
When England batsmen tried to force the pace they perished. Ben Duckett, Root and Brook all had opportunities to build an innings without seeing it through and it required Jacks to tip the total to more than 250. He batted within himself at first, but hit four fours in a row in the 47th over in a late burst that took England to a winning score.