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ECB did not inform Will Jacks that he was not awarded
a central contract; he claimed, “I just ended up seeing it on Twitter like
everyone else.”
Jacks, 25, surprised everyone by missing out on the
ECB’s list of 29 players who received contract offers despite having played for
England in all three formats over the last 12 months.
“It was a bit of a difficult one,” Jacks
said on the eve of England’s ODI opener against West Indies. “I didn’t
really find out at all. I knew everyone was hearing and I was waiting to hope
that I would find out and then I didn’t. I just ended up seeing it on Twitter
like everyone else did and that was obviously disappointing. I was hoping to
get one.”
“The last two World Cup years I’ve just narrowly
missed out on selection, so making the World Cup squad is a massive goal of
mine and playing T20 cricket in South Africa against some of the best players
will be perfect for that.”
Jacks has contracts to play in the SA20 in January and
the IPL in March, demonstrating his great demand on the T20 franchise circuit.
Jacks may now chose his winter obligations as he works towards his first aim of
reaching the 2024 World Cup squad, so the omission has been a double-edged
sword.
The challenge for England and Jacks is that the SA20
series coincides with England’s Test series against India. With his explosive
ball skills and his impressive exploits in Pakistan the previous year, Jacks
would probably be selected for the squad, if not the playing XI.
“I wouldn’t say it’s changed my motivation to
play for England,” Jacks said in regards to whether the snub has led to
him re-jigging his priorities. “Obviously England is the pinnacle and I
want to play as much as I can, but what it has done is managed my expectations.
“The India Test matches have obviously been in
the back of everyone’s mind for the recent period – it’s such a massive series
and there’s all the talk about spin and the need for allrounders and having a
deep squad. So it’s probably just that instead of me thinking that I was going
to be picked I’m now thinking okay, if they wanted to pick me then
realistically, I would have been given a contract. So the fact that they
haven’t given me one, probably says something.”