| Player: | PA Jaques |
DateLine: 3rd June 2008
Phil Jaques has actually forced his way into the Australian squad, on the base of some humongous averages in back to back seasons. He holds a British passport and has played a lot of cricket in the county circuit too, but in his heart he has always wanted to play for the team from Down Under. However his baptism in the Test matches wasn’t smooth, against the South Africans in 2005.
But he was not disappointed and decided to make the selectors wilt under a mountain of runs. As a left handed opener, he has played for New South Wales (1191 runs in 2004-05) as well as Yorkshire (1359 in 2005 and 1118 in 2004).Another opportunity came in the second Test in Bangladesh in 2006 and he produced a capable 66.
A groin injury to Simon Katich saw him get his first ODI cap in the 2005-06 VB Series. His 94 was the highest score by an Australian first-gamer, but he was harshly dropped when Katich recovered. With an attacking mindset and home-made technique, in 2006-07 he struck 987 Pura Cup runs at 47.00 and after Langer retired, Jaques finally got a chance to seal a Test spot and he did it with a couple of centuries against Sri Lanka, a 100 at the Gabba and 150 in Hobart, both scored in the same manner that he has dominated domestic attacks.