Image Source- BCB
The current white-ball opening duo for England will
stroll out to the middle together at Trent Bridge on Saturday with the chance
to demonstrate that they are a genuine long-term alternative at the top of the
order rather than just a stop-gap. A soggy Headingley outfield delayed its
arrival by three days.
Prior to Wednesday’s ODI being called off without a
ball being thrown, Phil Salt and Will Jacks were scheduled to start the batting
against Ireland. Both players are aware that this series is much more important
than its outcome. Instead, it gives them a chance to demonstrate why they ought
to be a part of a revitalised England team following this World Cup.
Jacks and Salt have only ever batted together six
times, all in T20 games. They have a similar aesthetic to the opening duo of
Jason Roy and Alex Hales, who helped spark England’s white-ball revolution.
Jacks, like Hales, is the taller of the two and particularly strong through the
covers; Salt, like Roy, is a little bit shorter but a strong, dominant leg-side
player. They both provide supplementary abilities, unlike Roy and Hales: Jacks
bowls decent offbreaks, and Salt can keep wicket.
Roy and Hales were allowed more time at the top of the
order after England’s humiliating group-stage loss from the 2015 World Cup and
before their upcoming full series against New Zealand. They were given
permission to fail as long as they participated in the team’s new attacking
style. Salt and Jacks could be in a similar position.
Salt and Jacks are in healthy rivalry with one
another. Jacks becomes 25 in November, Salt turns 27 last month, and Salt has
30 international appearances and a T20 World Cup medal to Jacks’ 10. However,
England wanted to give Jacks a run of games, so they chose Jacks over Salt to
start the batting in the T20I series against New Zealand last month.
“I was disappointed, I can’t lie to you,”
Salt said. “I had a good IPL, but I didn’t do myself justice when I came
back for the Blast. Playing for England is where I want to be… if anything,
it’s given me motivation to get back in the team and reclaim my place.” He
sought feedback from Matthew Mott and Jos Buttler, who explained there had been
“a little shift around in the pecking order.”
With Hales now retired from international cricket and
Roy’s World Cup omission likely to draw a line under his England career, there
will soon be spots up for grabs. “I’d like to think so, yeah,” Salt
said when asked if he saw himself taking one of them. “There’s a lot of
guys in my position also thinking the same thing.”