Will Jacks reveals emergency surgery before career-best England bowling display

Will Jacks has revealed that emergency surgery for appendicitis interrupted a family trip last month, weeks before he delivered his best 50-over bowling performance for England. According to BBC Sport's Matthew Henry, the all-rounder took 5-22 in Tuesday's first one-day international against Sri Lanka at Chester-le-Street after returning earlier than initially expected from the operation.

Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8eIO-sjPm4

The 27-year-old had planned to visit Edinburgh to celebrate his mother's 60th birthday. He initially believed he had a stomach bug, but his condition deteriorated quickly and he needed treatment at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Jacks told the BBC the experience had been frightening and praised the NHS care he received. The planned birthday celebrations will have to be rearranged.

His initial recovery timetable was four weeks, but he came back a few days ahead of that schedule to captain England Lions against Sri Lanka on 11 September. He then appeared in all three matches of England's T20 series sweep. Jacks said he had resumed bowling only five days before his first game, having concentrated on restoring his strength and fitness following surgery.

The return involved additional work on his core strength because of the demands of his spin-bowling action. Jacks said starting with T20 cricket helped, with a maximum allocation of four overs per match, while his limited bowling workload in that series also proved useful. His five-wicket haul at Chester-le-Street was the second-best ODI return by an England spinner, according to the BBC report, and came on a slow surface that offered turn.

Jacks also contributed an unbeaten 46 with the bat. England were 211-7 in the 39th over before eventually reaching 265 in the penultimate over, with Jacks still at the crease. He struck only one boundary in his first 43 deliveries. Explaining that approach, he said the difficult conditions and wickets falling around him required him to reconsider a competitive total and focus on using the available overs.

The performance came about 18 months after Jacks moved from opening to a middle-order finishing role in England's limited-overs teams. He is also serving as Harry Brook's vice-captain for the Sri Lanka series while Jacob Bethell is absent. Jacks told the BBC he now feels comfortable handling different match situations and values the security of knowing he is in the side, after earlier feeling pressure to retain his place from game to game.