Leach will have to be taken out of firing line
It was brutal. It was pre-meditated. and it was a calculated attack that looks likely to knock Jack Leach out of this ashes and quite possibly beyond. the figures tell the sorry tale of England’s spinner in this horror show of a first test. the man who was meant to bring control while England’s seamers found their legs in the Brisbane heat was smashed for 95 off 11 overs on a second day that confirmed beyond all doubt that Joe Root and Chris silverwood picked the wrong team at the Gabba. Leach has been here before — and the way he recovered from a mauling by Rishabh Pant in Chennai last winter showed immense character — but this had an air of finality about it, a template for any attacking batter to employ against Leach in any test first innings. significantly, it was David warner who led the way, the opener who did not usually hang around long enough during the 2019 ashes to smash the left-arm spinner because stuart Broad got him out cheaply. Now warner, quickly followed by Marnus Labuschagne and even travis Head, who spent the summer struggling with sussex but now boasts the joint-third fastest hundred in ashes history, have got after Leach it is difficult to see a way back for him in this series. Unless England somehow muster huge second-innings runs and give Leach something to bowl at, it seems that as far as australia are concerned he will always be remembered for that famous one not out at Headingley rather than any impact he made with the ball. England should not be surprised. they knew how ineffective finger spinners have traditionally been in australia — Nathan Lyon is an anomaly — and spent the summer seemingly planning to go into this ashes without a specialist. their late change of heart already looks like a mistake, Leach’s lack of parsimony compounded by injury to Ben stokes that left England’s three remaining seamers undercooked, overworked and all but out on their feet after two days of ashes conflict. Root has enough on his plate but he is a better bowler than Leach and has to shoulder any spin load for the rest of the ashes to allow England to play to their seam-bowling strengths. Only in the subcontinent, or unlikely dust bowls, should England turn to Leach again, though, with their return to Pakistan planned for next winter, this likeable character should still have something of an England future. It is just that, with Leach unable to contain in the first innings of a test and not potent enough to bowl teams out in the second, Graeme swann remains the cricketer most missed from England’s all-conquering team who went to the top of the world 10 years ago. the wait for the new swann will go on for some time yet. Dom Bess took four wickets for the Lions against australia a yesterday but recent experience tells us he remains some way off being a test-class operator.