Will Jacks replaces Mark Wood for second Ashes Test

England have thrown the Surrey all-rounder Will Jacks into their XI for the second Ashes Test at the Gabba in a bid to bolster their batting and provide a spin option in a day/night match.

Jacks will make his first Test appearance in three years when he replaces Mark Wood, who misses out with a knee injury.

Jacks has only played two Tests before, both against Pakistan, meaning his Ashes debut will take place in the cauldron of Brisbane’s Gabba, where they have not won since 1986.

England are 1-0 down in the series having lost an extraordinary Test inside two days in Perth.

With Wood injured, England faced a dilemma over whether to replace him with a like-for-like pace option, Josh Tongue, or turn to spin.

Having decided that a spin option was required because the pink ball goes soft quickly, Jacks has beaten fellow off-spinner Shoaib Bashir to the final spot in the side due to his superior batting in what could be a low-scoring game. Jacks, who was a left-field selection for the tour itself, will bat No 8.

Jacks’s selection is a blow to Bashir, who has now missed four Tests in a row having picked up a finger injury against India at Lord’s.

England first selected Bashir two years ago as a 20-year-old, partly so they could mould him for this tour, where the bounce provided by his height is a threat.

Jacks, 27, is also a tall off-spinner but is an occasional bowler who has taken just 49 wickets in 57 first-class matches. He is best known for his belligerent batting at the top of the order in white-ball cricket.

“Definitely,” said England captain Ben Stokes when asked if there is a role for spinners in day/night Tests.

“Talking about the tactical element of a day/night game, you do try to look at Australia. They play a lot of day/night cricket here, how they use their spinner as an attacking option, or more to give the bowlers an easier rotation and to get through the overs quicker to have more time with the new ball under lights. There’s both those elements we will consider with how a spinner is to be used in a day/night game.”

Tongue bowled 16 overs in a pink-ball match for England Lions on Saturday, but has been overlooked in favour of spin.

He may come in for the third Test at Adelaide, a game Wood is racing to be fit for having injured his left knee in Perth.

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