Image Credit- Getty
Four games. Four hundred and fifty collaborations. As
England’s newest opening duo, Phil Salt and Will Jacks have had an excellent
time together.
“He’s probably the best partner I’ve batted with
in white-ball cricket,” Salt said of his partner in powerplay. “We
did it together in SA20 and we’ve done it this summer for England against
Ireland.
“Opening the batting, sometimes you have
different partners, you give them the strike early on and they’re just focused
on boundaries but he’s good at communicating. We have an understanding where
it’s not just about getting a flyer by hitting a boundary but rotating
strike.”
Assuming the role of Rohit Sharma, Salt has been the
more aggressive player in an already explosive combination; nonetheless, on
each of the four instances that he and Jacks have batted together, Salt has
left the party first. The theory is that England will bat for a long period if
Salt bats well. Even so, an opening batsman who has only twice out of 16
innings for England managed to escape the first powerplay—both times against
the Netherlands nearly eighteen months ago—finds it frustrating.
“You asked how I feel my international career has
gone so far,” Salt said. “I feel like at times I’ve been guilty of
pushing the accelerator a little bit too hard because I know the lads behind me
are such good players and we bat so deep, but maybe I haven’t done myself
justice when I’ve had those starts, and I’ve earned the right to sort of go on,
but it’s a learning curve.”
This group of players is under different pressure than
they were under previously. They understood back then that they were just
holding onto the clothing until the legend they were borrowing came back.
However, they now have the opportunity to claim the space as their own,
therefore there is a loss.
“That’s elite sport,” Salt said of his and
Jacks’ status as friends and rivals. “I don’t really think too much along
those lines, but I’m sure if Jonny comes back, there will have to be some sort
of movement.
“I think it’s a double-edged sword. You know,
there’s been times I’ve felt like I could have done anything and still not got
in the team, but I feel like they’ve showed those lads loyalty for so long and
that’s why they’ve got such good results out of them. So it’s good to know
that’s where the management sit on that one.”