‘Perfect game? No one really cares’ - Will Jacks on England’s inconsistencies in T20 World Cup 2026

England have stormed into the semi-finals of the ICC T20 World Cup 2026, and according to Will Jacks, that matters way more than his side playing a perfect game, both with the bat and with the ball. 

The 2022 T20 World champions continued their winning form after a  win against New Zealand, with Jacks once again stepping up under pressure. The all-rounder bagged his fourth Player-of-the-Match award of the tournament.

When asked whether England needed to produce a flawless performance to lift the trophy for the third time, the English all-rounder was clear in his response.

“Well, short answer is no. 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,” he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

Despite qualifying for the semifinals, the Harry Brook-led side is yet to produce a perfect team performance. They have managed to win some close contests in the group stages and in the Super 8s thanks to some individually brilliant performances.

Having topped their Super Eight group, England now head to Mumbai for the second semi-final. Their likely opponents will be either India or West Indies, who face off in the final Super Eight clash. West Indies have already defeated England at the Wankhede Stadium in the group stage. However, Jacks insisted that the Three Lions are not too concerned by the prospect of facing either of the two powerhouses in the knock-out stage.

“It would be massive, yeah. Everyone knows about India and the storyline that 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. We'll be watching their game Sunday and we'll see the outcome. We'll be prepared and I think we'll go into it with optimism and excitement,” he concluded. 

With momentum on their side and a team thriving in pressure situations, England appear to have cracked a winning formula in the ongoing T20 World Cup.