MUMBAI: Will Jacks and Eminem. Confused? What could the English all-rounder and the American rapper have in common? Post the tour Down Under, Jacks has been sporting a significantly short, bleached-blonde hairstyle, leading to comparisons with the songwriter.
The resemblance was so uncanny that his teammates have been pulling his leg to rap and perform Eminen songs calling him Slim Shady. One such Eminem song, titled Without Me, goes “I've created a monster; 'Cause nobody wants to see Marshall no more; They want Shady.” Marshall is the given name of the rapper, while Eminem created an alter ego called Slim Shady as a creative outlet.
While it is not clear to what extent he can pull off an Eminem rap, Jacks has become a monster on the field. In the seven matches so far, he has smashed 191 runs at a strike rate of 176.85 apart from taking seven wickets with the ball. He has done so while batting in the lower-order.
Watching Jacks own the big stage from afar, Surrey head coach Gareth Batty is a happy man. After all, it was Batty who took a punt with his off-spin for Surrey four years ago. At the time, the key objective was to get the youngster in the XI. Jacks, all of 23 then, was already known as one for the future. Growing up through the Surrey academy, he was always seen as one. And it was not without merit. By then, Jacks had already featured in multiple short form leagues across the world.
“I think my assessment was that he was a batter, first and foremost," Batty told this daily from London. "All that we tried to create here was that he got a game and played. And it looked strange at times that he was batting at No 7 and even No 8 when we had Sam Curran around and Colin de Grandhomme and Jamie Overton. We had a mammoth batting lineup. But it was just the conversation, ‘Look, you're better off playing than not. Let's try to afford you an opportunity wherever humanly possible'. Knowing that a player can learn, but also the skill that he has and the capacity to take it forward. You certainly had a good feeling about where his future could lie if he could keep on the right path and keep moving his skill set forward. So it was a no-brainer."
Even then, the road wasn’t straightforward. Jacks, while continuing to grow as a white-ball cricketer, lost his central contract with the England Cricket Board in 2023 and missed the ODI World Cup. But, as he has done all through his life, Jacks kept at it. “He did what all good players do. You look at the disappointment. And there are two ways to go. You either feel sorry for yourself and wallow in that self-pity. Or you go, 'well, I'm going to make sure it is impossible not to give me a central contract or not to pick me in that squad'. And that is all that a coach can try and create. But ultimately, the players make that decision themselves.
“They go, ‘No, I'm not going to be the person that goes left. I'm going to turn right. I'm going to get the work done. I'm going to put in the performance. And I'm going to keep pushing and moving my career forward'. I suppose it's just a learning and growth mindset that is what we try to create here at Surrey. Is it always possible? No. But if it was always possible, we would win every trophy going, which (even if) we do all right, but we don't win everything,” the former off-spinner explained.
One of the aspects of Jacks’ evolution as a cricketer is his ability to learn from the experience he has had all over the world in franchise leagues, including IPL, where he has played for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians. “The observation that we've seen over a period of time is that from doing the different competitions, from being away with England at whatever level and coming back to us, he is coming more complete every time. He is growing as a human being. He is growing as a person, understands that sometimes simplicity of practice and keeping good alignment, both with bat and ball, is the key to allowing his best skill to come out,” he said. "I think his mindset is always that he can achieve lots of things that the majority of people don't think are possible. He is really positive. He is competitive to the end, being around different competitions, being around different environments, he is now understanding how to manage that emotion and make it work for him in the outcome. So I suppose we're talking about converting potential into performance. He's getting more performance-based now than just potential, which is wonderful to see of a man of his age that he's still got, wow, he's got so much longer left in his career.”
Out on the field at the Wankhede Stadium, Jacks bowled under the sun for close to an hour in the nets on Tuesday afternoon. He then went on to have a long hit with the bat, where, as expected, he sent a few into the stands. It is a remarkable turnaround for someone who was receiving a lot of flak for his bowling in Australia. It is almost as if he has switched on an alter-ego of himself — Jacks has always been a better white-ball cricketer — before the T20 World Cup. After all, he is thriving as a No 7 when the top-order batter had never played that role before in his career. It does help that he is playing under Harry Brook — his U19 captain with the England junior side back in the day — and his bowling has come to the fore for the two-time winners.
Batty compares his bowling with Moeen Ali and believes that he is just getting started. When Batty is asked whether he has pulled Jacks’ legs about his new hairstyle, Batty joked about his own and went on to add that Jacks is not superstitious. “I think it's unique and it's working for him. So keep it. I think it's just a moment in his timeline in life that this is his trend for the moment. But I think he may have done it before. He's not averse to keeping it interesting. Just be who you want to be. There's nothing prescribed from anywhere. Just be the person that you want to be. And if it's authentic, it's right,” said Batty.
Indeed, and looking at the way Jacks is going in this T20 World Cup, England would not mind it one bit. In fact, they would be hoping that he channels his inner monster at least till Monday morning.