Will Jacks believes that perfection is not a prerequisite for winning a global tournament. After guiding the England national cricket team into the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026, the all-rounder said results matter far more than delivering a flawless performance every time. England sealed their place in the last four with a thrilling four-wicket win over the New Zealand national cricket team in Colombo.
The victory was sealed with three balls to spare and earned Jacks his fourth Player-of-the-Match award of the tournament, further underlining his influence on England’s campaign. Speaking after the game, Jacks emphasised that consistent victories are what truly matter in a high-pressure tournament like the T20 World Cup.
“We’ve won six out of seven games and we’ve qualified for a semi-final. At the end of the day, no one really cares about the perfect game. We obviously want to play well in there, but we’re not gutted that we haven’t played the perfect game because we’re winning. And that’s T20 cricket, that’s professional sport. It’s also incredibly hard to do that,” WIll Jacks said.
He pointed out that achieving perfection in international cricket is extremely rare because every team arrives equally prepared and determined to dominate key moments.
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“You’re playing against a very strong side who have prepared as well as you, and they know what they’re trying to do and they’re also trying to play the perfect game. So the chances of that happening are very slim. What we’ve done well is, in the key moments, we’ve kept a calm and clear head, and we’ve managed to negotiate those well,” he added.
Under the leadership of Harry Brook, England have shown remarkable composure in tight situations throughout the tournament. Their chase against New Zealand perfectly illustrated that resilience.
Chasing 160, England looked under pressure when they needed 43 runs from the final three overs. However, Jacks and Rehan Ahmed shifted the momentum with fearless stroke-play. The turning point arrived in the 18th over when Ahmed launched Glenn Phillips for a crucial six, sparking a 22-run over that suddenly tilted the match in England’s favour.
“That ball that Rehan hit, a six on the second ball, that gave me energy as well. I thought, ‘right, we’ve got a chance here’. And then obviously I finished the over 6, 4, 4, and we were on. Small moments like that are so important – not just the runs but the way it happens,” WillJacks explained.
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England now shift their focus to Mumbai, where the second semi-final will take place at the iconic Wankhede Stadium. Their potential opponents could be defending champions India national cricket team or the explosive West Indies cricket team.
“It would be massive. Everyone knows about India and the storyline that brings. It could also be the West Indies, and they’ve beaten us in Mumbai, so we know how tricky that’s going to be,” Will Jacks said. For England, the message remains simple: winning the key moments is what truly decides tournaments.
