After making his England debut in Karachi, could local cricket star Will Jacks break into the Test or World Cup Team and expand his opportunities with England?

As the year slowly ends, many look back and reflect on the time that has passed. Some satisfied and others in belief that they could have accomplished more, but a time of evaluation is inevitable. However, a certain Surrey’s Will Jacks, at only 23 years of age, offered us a truly scintillating display of talent, grit, and determination this year. It seems that Jacks – a tall, domiant and powerful battsman, is on a path that can end at no other juncture than England integration.

It all started this year when the Hundred, a new modern and fast paced form of the game graced the cricketing world for the second year running. Jacks opened the batting for the Oval Invincibles and was one of the standout players of the tournament. Not only did Jacks make an astounding 108 off 48 balls – the quickest in the tournament - he supplied noteworthy consistency. Jacks scored 261 runs across seven innings.  Averaging 37.28, more than worldwide stars like Liam Livingstone, Glenn Maxwell, and Eoin Morgan alike. This aided the Invincibles to a long and exciting journey in the competition until they were dispatched by the Manchester Originals in the eliminator.

For Jacks now, a period of opportunity lies ahead as we are finally able to see his true talent unleashed and his potential expanded. What an incredible achievement it would be for a local lad from Chertsey to successfully climb through the ranks of English cricket. He would however, not be the first and represent the continuation of a recent trend.

From an early age Jacks has been involved in prominent levels of cricket, when he joined the Surrey Performance Programme at age 12. Like established England stars Sam Curran and Ollie Pope, he became an integral part of the Surrey Squad, who again won the County Championship this season following their success in 2018. Jacks showed his true ability, with a standout performance of a battling 150 off 184 balls to lead Surrey to victory against all odds. This showed his clear superiority with the bat.

After impressing the selectors, Jacks finally got his deserved debut for England in a T20 against Pakistan. Jacks opened the batting due to the absence of Jos Butler (C) and he expertly seized his opportunity. A stunning 44 off 24 balls containing mighty blows, was conjured up by the debutant, reinforcing the selectors inclinations.

Next for Jacks could be an opportunity to fight his way into the Test team for the tour of Pakistan. With the absence of Jonny Bairstow and the decision of ‘spin twins’ Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid not to tour their ancestral homeland, both spin and batting departments are shorn of some of their best resources. The challenge of bowling to Babar Azam and Mohammed Rizwan in their own backyard will be a mighty one. But throughout his short career so far, Jacks has always managed to surprise the upside.