Worcestershire Assistant Coach, Richard Jones, says Jack Home has the ability but also the desire to develop into a genuine all-rounder.
Home burst into the first team last summer and was a massive success with his pace in the Metro Bank One Day Cup and picked up 16 wickets in just five games.
But he had initially been viewed primarily as a batter when joining the Worcestershire Academy four years ago and this winter scored two crucial half centuries for the Young Lions on his Youth Test debut versus South Africa.
He earned praise for his contribution to the group on and off the pitch and will be looking during the 2025 campaign to build on the successful start to his senior career.
Jones said: “It has been really pleasing to see how Jack has done this winter. At Worcestershire last year we all saw at close hand his raw abilities and what an exciting prospect he is.
“We were thrilled for him to get recognition from the Young Lions and to see him go out there and perform on the international stage has been brilliant.
“I’m not surprised he made such a positive impact on the games and on the playing group. He had a very successful introduction to first team cricket with the Metro Bank One Day Cup and has had a very positive 12 months with him kicking on so well this winter.
“We’ve had some really good reports back from the England staff, not just from a cricketing perspective.
“They’ve been impressed with his skills with bat and ball, but also how he has been around the group, how he has fitted in and the competitive edge he brings to the group.
“This year it will just be about him continuing to develop in all facets, I suppose, and for us as a support staff to make sure we look after him as best as we can.”
Jones expects Home to be fully focused on developing all of his skill-sets.
He said: “If you spoke to him about the way he sees himself, he’d still call himself a batter. I think growing up, he was mainly a batter who bowled some overs.
“And then, all of a sudden, maybe about 18 months ago, he developed the ability to bowl quickly which helped him get his opportunity with us in the 50-over competition last summer.
“The fact that he’s always seen himself as a batter hopefully means he will always want to develop both skills and treat them with equal care and attention.
“Sometimes as a youngster, if you make your way into the side with a specific role you can maybe pigeon-hole yourself a little bit and one of your skills falls by the wayside a little bit or you don’t quite treat it with as much time and effort as the other one.
“But I don’t think we will have that with Jack. I think he wants to make sure he can be the best batter he can be and he has certainly got the ability to be a genuine all-rounder.
“If you look up at the make-up of our squad, we’ve got quite a lot of all-rounders at the moment. It’s one of Richo’s things that he has spoken about, that we need guys who can offer with the bat and with the ball and across all formats.
“With Jack, having those early years of playing competitive cricket mainly as a batter but then developing this ability to bowl fast, is a nice mix and he’s in a really good spot.”
