Jack Leach intends to rejoin the England team for their October Test tour of Pakistan. During the Three Lions’ five-match Test tour of India in January, he made his final appearance for the team. He missed the rest of the trip after suffering a left knee injury while fielding in the first Test.
After recovering, Leach is currently playing for Somerset in the County Championship. In their most recent match against Durham last week, he took 12 wickets. When Ben Stokes took over as England’s Test captain, the Taunton native was the team’s first-choice spinner.
But in the last eighteen months, he has only participated in two Test matches due to back and knee issues. In the current Test series between England and Sri Lanka, the young Shoaib Bashir is playing as the lone spinner for the team, having jumped ahead of him in the pecking order.
Despite the fact that Bashir has claimed three five-wicket hauls in just eight Test matches, Leach thinks England can use two spinners against Pakistan.
In December 2022, Jack Leach claimed 15 wickets in England’s 3-0 victory over Pakistan.
“I completely get the rationale behind Bash’s selection. He is already a really excellent bowler with a lot of promise for the future, in my opinion, and I grade him very highly. We have collaborated extensively, and I am thrilled for him and want to see him succeed. However, I have a tour to Pakistan coming up, and I would be more than happy to travel to England if necessary,” Leach was reported to have said.
“I think they will want many spinners, and after nearly a year with niggles that have required some overcoming, I feel like I am returning to my best self. Sometimes it’s difficult to comprehend how difficult it is to recover from injuries. That’s one area where long stretches like the ones I had versus Durham definitely assist. There is no reason why Shoaib and I couldn’t go on the Pakistan tour; it would be good if we could. “I want to play for England, and I’m as determined as ever to do so, without getting my hopes up,” he continued.
After playing 35 Test matches so far, the 33-year-old has claimed 126 wickets with a strike rate of 68.17 and an average of 34.40. If the left-arm spinner has another opportunity to represent his country in whites, he will want to repeat the success.
“I want to do everything I can to support Somerset in winning the Championship in the interim. The idea of playing Surrey at Taunton next, one of three very significant games, excites us all. At this point in the season, we wanted to be in the running for the title, and we are still in the right.
Also Read: ‘Will take a moment to sink in’: Gus Atkinson reacts to century and five-for at Lord’s
The Durham pitch, in my opinion, is ideal for our brand of cricket. As a bowler, you had to be patient, but if you maintained placing the ball in the right spot, you would eventually be rewarded,” Leach stated.
India
