He has not been in England's plans lately.
Australia’s off-spinner Nathan Lyon had a detailed talk about the current spin stocks in English cricket, who have a few options to work with. They have consistently preferred Shoaib Bashir over the likes of Jack Leach and Liam Dawson due to his attributes – tall and high release points, which have been a common criterion for selecting spinners since Ben Stokes took over.
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While talking at a Cricket Australia sponsorship announcement in Sydney, Lyon revealed that he had a chat with James Anderson while playing for Lancashire in the County Cricket last year, where the English fast bowling legend said that Bashir has been picked to replicate what Lyon does for Australia. However, the Australian spinner feels Jack Leach is still England’s best Test spinner at the moment.
“I obviously played with Jimmy Anderson last year at Lancashire, and they basically said that they’re picking Bashir to do what I do. Jacob Bethell is playing this Test match [at The Oval against India], and he looks like he’ll take up the spin bowling from Liam Dawson. But in my eyes, Jack Leach is still their best spinner.”
It is a massive praise for Leach since Lyon is a knowledgeable spinner who understands the nuances of spin bowling and must have seen something special in the English player. He could have picked Liam Dawson, who has been a red-ball veteran with a fine record, but that Lyon preferred Leach suggests he has something special, which England’s team management fails to see.
Unfortunately, England have not been on the same boat as several other experts, who have rated Jack Leach’s craft highly. He made his Test debut in 2018 and did a fine job in the initial years to secure a place in the XI for a few years.
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He has 142 wickets at an average of 34.07 in 67 innings, including five five-wicket and a ten-wicket haul. However, he has not featured for England since the Test series in Pakistan last year, where he was his team’s best bowler, even though England lost the rubber.
Leach snared 16 wickets at 31.43 runs apiece in six outings and was England’s leading wicket-taker. Still, the team dropped him to have more spinners with high release points, which they feel will be more effective in Australia later this year.
Even when Bashir was ruled out of the fourth Test against India, England recalled Liam Dawson after eight years and ignored Leach, who has taken two consecutive six-wicket hauls in the last two County fixtures. He might not be as young as Bashir, which can be a reason for his omission, but Leach has good form on his side, and England could have used it to their advantage in this Test series against India.
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