Will Jacks was left with a bitter-sweet taste in his mouth after missing out on a hundred – but the Surrey star demonstrated his outstanding potential in the victory over Ireland.
And, after smashing 94 in a 48-run victory in the second ODI at Trent Bridge, the Surrey star insisted he would be ready to step in if England’s World Cup squad suffer injuries during their quest to retain the title.
Jacks, who was kicking himself for holing out going for a six as Zak Crawley’s experimental side overcame a spirited Irish outfit with with teenage spinner Rehan Ahmed grabbing four wickets.
Ahmed, 19, produced a magical spell of 4-54 to help dismiss Ireland for 286 as England’s experimental side claimed the second ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
And Jacks insisted: “I was happy with the way I went about it. I’d be more upset had I just pushed it around and got out. I will think about those six runs I was short of a hundred and I will think about the 94 I got more.
“The World Cup squad has been selected and if anything comes up before then I have to keep scoring runs to make sure I will be ready.”
Captain Crawley insisted: “Will played outstandingly well and got the job done. It’s a team which as not played together before but has gelled very well.”
Warwickshire’s Hain fired 89. He and Jacks helped reach 334-8 off their 50 overs after being put into bat by Ireland skipper Paul Stirling –and then Ahmed took charge with the ball in the early Autumn sunshine in Nottingham.
He did so, after fast bowler George Scrimshaw – one of four debutants in an England team without all their World Cup stars – had endured a nightmare first appearance. Scrimshaw became the first Englishman to bowl four no balls in his first over in ODIs.
His first over went for 17 runs and he joined illustrious company of Jeff Thomson and Curtley Ambrose who also suffered the same noball misery during their careers.
The Warwickshire star, 25, followed up with two more no balls in his next over but the 6ft 7in giant with the impressive moustache showed real determination to come back and take three wickets and finish with 3-66.
Captain Crawley insisted: “George showed real character and will learn a lot from this experience. Sometimes things don’t go as you want but you have to battle through and he did that. He came back strongly.”
He added: “It was always going to be a difficult game because Ireland are a good team with plenty of talent. We’ve come up short against them in the past but this time we were ready and were always in the ascendency.”
Before play, Freddie Flintoff had presented fellow Lancastrian Tom Hartley with his first cap and he had told the 24-year-old: “this will change your life forever”.
Ireland’s Craig Young, who shared in a hard-hitting final admitted: “Too many batters got starts without getting a fifty and we needed a better platform to launch a charge at the end.”
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