CRICKET: Jennings enjoys his second chance with England

England and Lancashire opening batsman Keaton Jennings revealed that he enjoyed being back in the England fold.

Jennings made 29 runs on his return to the international game after almost a year away from the top level. He said: “I absolutely loved the whole experience.”

Talking about his selection, he admitted that he was surprised at the timing and said: “I didn’t expect it to come so soon. Especially in the middle of a series.

“There’s a lot around timing. It was nice to get called up with a weight of runs albeit over the past two or three weeks. Feeling good is a massive bonus.”

Jennings hasn’t had the easiest of times over the past 19 months since his debut England debut against India in December 2016.

Following a disappointing series against South Africa last summer, he was dropped and his county side Durham weren’t in the best place. They were in Division Two of the County Championship.

During the winter of 2017, he moved to Lancashire in order to push for an England recall.

The summer didn’t start well for the 25-year old, although in fairness, it didn’t start well for many batsmen up and down the country as conditions favoured seam bowlers.

After the first three matches, he had a high score of 27 and an average of 15.8.

He then redeemed himself by scoring back-to-back centuries against Somerset and Nottinghamshire.

Following the century against Somerset, he said: “I want to try and contribute where I can.”

At the end of the opening five fixtures, he had scored 314 runs at an average of 44.86.

He also had a stellar Royal London One-Day Cup campaign before his England selection. The opener made 375 runs, averaging 75 exactly. The 136 made against Nottinghamshire in the opening match was his top score. Three half centuries were also scored.

The Red Rose county have three more matches before England’s next Test series, which gets underway on 1st August when they play India at Edgbaston.

When asked whether or not a series against India is exciting, Jennings replied: “Every Test match you play for England is exciting whether it’s your first or your 150th. It’s a Test match for England.”