Leach called up by England after back problem sidelines Crane
Jack Leach, Somerset’s leftarm spinner and the outstanding bowler on the England Lions tour of the West Indies, has been called up to the Test squad to replace Mason Crane, the Hampshire leg-spinner, who has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his lower back which is likely to keep him out for about 10 weeks.
On arriving in New Zealand, Crane, 21, had two scans on his back, which had troubled him during the Lions tour of the West Indies, and was ruled out of the two-test series which starts in Auckland on Thursday. Leach, 26, is due to arrive in time but England are unlikely to need a second spinner under lights.
Leach took 18 wickets in the three-test A series in the West Indies on turning pitches, but could not prevent England losing 3-0.
Crane made his Test debut in Sydney, taking one wicket for 193 off 48 overs. Stuart Macgill, the Australian wrist spinner, had been flown to New Zealand to give Crane a week’s tuition, so their net sessions together have been curtailed.
The second Test in Christchurch is a day game but, again, there is little prospect of England playing a specialist spinner in addition to Moeen Ali.
The pick of England’s seamers in yesterday’s warmup game was Stuart Broad, as the New Zealand side lost their first 10 wickets for 232 off 71.3 overs before they batted a second time, ending the day on 287 for 13 wickets.
Chris Woakes opened with James Anderson, with Broad as first change. Ben Stokes did not bowl owing to a stiff back, but will bat on the last day of middle-practice, and aims to bowl in Auckland on Tuesday to prove his fitness for the first Test.
Colin Graves, chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, has called an emergency meeting of the 18 county chairmen and MCC on March 29 as he attempts to quell unrest.
On the agenda will be the controversial payments to Test-match grounds in summers when they do not host England games and the ownership model of the new Twenty20 tournament. At this stage, Graves retains enough support to remain as chairman and unseating him a year before the World Cup and with the new T20 competition still in its early stages would be very risky.
Former Derbyshire allrounder Shiv Thakor has been handed a six-month ban by the ECB. The 24-yearold was convicted of exposing himself to two women last year. Derbyshire subsequently sacked him.