Runs for home as England return for Ashes series
runs.” Jennings made only 127 in eight innings during the four-match England v South Africa Test series, and even against Worcestershire his four off 10 balls was the knock of a man out of nick.
It has been a fall to earth for someone who made a Test century in his first innings in December.
Considering his defence was criticised at times, it is pretty good when facing a dictaphone.
“When you look at the series as a whole, you’ve had some pretty tough pitches in all four Tests,” Jennings points out. “If it hadn’t rained at The Oval, it would have been done in four days (as the first two Tests were).
“When you look at the surfaces and the calibre of bowler – I think Morne (Morkel) only bowled four shortpitched balls in the entire series – they were ruthless in the way they went about their art, which is what international sides do.
“They hone in and change the things they feel will get you out. I’ve got to come up with a game plan to try and combat that.
“It’s not massive changes because I’ve been successful with my technique if you want to call it that over the last two years. I’ll tweak certain things and put myself in a state physically and mentally to score big runs.” He has learnt not just from his experiences but his team-mates, Joe Root and Alastair Cook.
“Rooty has been fantastic for me,” he says. “I’ve learnt a lot from him captaincy-wise, from the way he goes about his game. SHUBMAN Gill stroked his second century of India’s Under-19 tour of England to set up another emphatic victory which sealed the Royal London One-Day Series with two matches to spare.
Gill, a tall 17-year-old right-hander from Jharkhand, followed the 102 he made in the second four-day match in Worcester with a hugely impressive innings of 147 from 127 balls, including 19 fours and two sixes.
That set up an imposing
“To be in and around the world’s No.2-ranked batsman, he’s an incredible player and an incredible human. To learn from him has been fantastic.
“To average what Cooky does, to be the only opener in the history of the game to make 10,000 (Test) runs is absolutely fantastic considering how much cricket he plays here (in England).
“The calibre of person, the way he goes about playing, the way he trains is something I can really look at and appreciate.”
Captain Root and coach Trevor Bayliss insist Jennings is still in their thoughts.
He knows what he needs to do to play in this winter’s Ashes, but also not to obsess about it.
“At the end of the day, it’s weight of runs,” he says. “That’s the currency we total of 327 for seven after Prithvi Shaw had won the toss and chosen to bat at the 1st Central County Ground in Hove.
Somerset’s Tom Banton posted England’s first half-century of the series in their reply, but nobody else made 30, and they were all out for a third consecutive sub-200 total with almost 10 overs to spare. deal in and I need to go back and score runs, there’s no two ways about it.
“It’s not only about the next three or four months, it’s about a 10-year period where I want to make it as an international cricketer. If I don’t I can say I’ve given it my best crack.
“If I’m not on that plane and I haven’t scored enough runs, I’ve only got myself to blame.
“I’ve got certain things I need to address and I will be doing that.
“I’d love to be on the plane but if I’m not, it’s not the end of the world. There’s another 10, 15 years hopefully to be playing. Colly (Paul Collingwood) is 41 and still going strong making an impact with bat, ball and in the field so there’s a lot of cricket ahead of me. It’s a long-term project.”
His final words say it all: “I’ve got some graft to do.”
England never really recovered from a shocking start when Durham opener Liam Trevaskis cut the second ball from Kamlesh Nagarkoti to the gully, where Himanshu Rana took an acrobatic juggling catch.
Nagarkoti struck again in his second over courtesy of another sharp catch, this time by Shaw at slip to dismiss Liam Banks.
England’s captain and vice captain, Harry Brook and Will Jacks, were both shaping with promise in a third-wicket stand of 27 before falling in consecutive overs – Jacks steering Nagarkoti to gully, and Brook caught behind driving at Shivam Mavi.
Matt Potts, a Durham all-rounder making his first appearance, took four for 61 in the India innings, including Rana bowled by a beauty in his second over.
But Jacks was the pick of the attack with his off-spin, conceding only 40 from his 10 overs.