Will Jacks stars with bat and ball on return as England beat Sri Lanka
Will Jacks took five wickets and finished unbeaten with the bat just weeks after emergency appendix surgery as England beat Sri Lanka by 89 runs in Chester-le-Street.
The first one-day international, a 50-over game where each side bats once, took place on Tuesday, 22 September. Jacks took 5-22 with the ball and made 46 not out with the bat to drive England home. BBC Sport
Only a short time earlier, cricket felt a long way off. Jacks had gone to hospital thinking he had a tummy bug. Doctors at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh diagnosed appendicitis and he had emergency surgery. BBC Sport
He was first given four weeks to recover. He beat that timetable by a few days to captain the England Lions, the national second string, in a warm-up match against Sri Lanka on 11 September. He then played in all three T20s, the 20-over sprint format, as England swept the T20 series.
His bowling did the sharpest damage at Chester-le-Street. His 5-22, five wickets conceded for 22 runs, was his best return in 50-over cricket for England. It was also the second-best ODI figures by an England spinner, a bowler who makes the ball twist off the pitch.
Three of those wickets came in a single over. The ball turned sharply. Data showed Jacks found 4.3 degrees of turn, the sideways movement off the surface, his highest figure at home in ODIs.
He was not done. Chasing is often the calmer job, but Jacks stayed till the end with 46 not out. Not out means he was still batting when England completed the win.
He did it with extra responsibility. With Jacob Bethell absent, Jacks is vice-captain to Harry Brook for this Sri Lanka series. Brook has previously called him England's "Jack of all trades", a nod to his batting, bowling and fielding.
What makes this stand out is the speed of the turnaround. Jacks was England's player of the tournament at the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. To go from an operating table in Edinburgh to match-winner in Durham within weeks takes resilience. For fans, this means England have a fit-again all-rounder hitting form at exactly the right point of the home summer.
