CRANE BLOW LIFTS LEACH

Back injury ends leggie’s tour and gives rival his chance

ENGLAND’S latest spin hope Mason Crane has left New Zealand with a lower back stress fracture, paving the way for Jack Leach’s first senior call-up.

The Hampshire leggie made his debut in England’s most recent Test match in Sydney, where he took a chastening 1-193, but now his winter is over after a scan revealed the injury.

Crane, 21, had also played in the West Indies for the Lions on a tour where left-arm spinner Leach had match figures of 8-110 as part of 18 wickets in three games to back up his good form for Somerset.

“What is a misfortune for one player can be fortunate for someone else,” said vicecaptain James Anderson.

“It is a good opportunity for Jack and he probably deserves his chance. I feel for Mason, I have been there myself as a youngster, but he has got a good head on his shoulders and I am sure he will come back strong.”

Leach has taken 116 wickets over the last two seasons, but was controversially sent for remedial work on his action by the ECB in 2016 when he was close to going on the tours of Bangladesh and India. Since then he has responded with enough wickets to make a strong case for inclusion in the senior set-up, although had Yorkshire’s Adil Rashid not turned his back on red-ball cricket, the selection might not have been so clear cut.

Leach will arrive early next week, too late to be considered for Auckland. But England offered a glimpse of their likely line-up for the first Test with Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes returning in their final two-day warm-up game in Hamilton.

Stokes is only playing as a batsman as a precaution, but is set to bowl on Monday in training to prove his readiness to play a full part in the Test.

Despite again not taking the new ball, Stuart Broad was outstanding on a day when England bowled for a full 90 overs and the New Zealand XI lost 13 wickets making 287.

Broad knows he is in a battle to remain one of England’s opening bowlers on Thursday and his response was exactly what Joe Root had hoped for.

“He’s disappointed as you would imagine,” said Anderson. “Broadie is a very proud guy and has taken the new ball for a while now with myself. But he has taken it on the chin and bowled fantastically well when he has been given the opportunity.

“He has done a lot of work on his action and looks confident, refreshed and energetic, which is positive for our team.”