‘That will be the best one he’ll ever get’
IT MAY just have been the best one not out in the history of English cricket.
Jack Leach’s minimalist contribution to the 10th-wicket partnership of 76 with Ben Stokes gave new meaning to the business of the supporting act but his hour-long, limpet-like vigil proved priceless.
Stokes could not watch during the last few deliveries in the bespectacled No11’s 17-ball survival act, as Leach emerged still standing to become an unlikely hero of the Headingley drama. Stokes said his partner in the miracle had “serious b ****** s” to withstand the pressure.
“Leachy had to stay in with me,” said Stokes.
“Those will be the most important balls that he will ever face in his Test career. It was the best one he has ever got in his career.
“It takes two to tango in a situation like that and for him to come out under that kind of pressure and to deliver when he needed to deliver was fantastic.A lot of credit has to go to him as well for us being able to cross the line at the end.”
Leach, who made 92 as a nightwatchman against Ireland at Lord’s earlier this season, defended staunchly but needed a huge slice of fortune when Nathan Lyon inexplicably dropped a throw that would have seen him run him out after a mid-pitch mix-up.
“Me and him could literally have had a conversation, he was that close to me,” said Stokes. “He said he thought I had started running but I said, ‘Mate, I was nowhere near running!’ “That was huge panic stations there because he was so far out.
“But pressure situations in games can really affect what a human does. “Nine times out 10 Nathan Lyon would be able to pick that ball up.”