JACK THRASH
Spin king Leach fired up to wallop Windies
JACK LEACH is backing England to put the West Indies in a spin – after Joe Root’s trio of turners demolished Sri Lanka in their pre-Christmas whitewash.
Leach was instrumental in England’s triumph.
The Somerset left- armer claimed 18 wickets as England’s spinners took 50 of the 60 wickets to fall in a three Test series that confirmed Root’s (right) side as the coming force in Test cricket.
His consistency also allowed fellow spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid to attack relentlessly from the other end.
Leach was once a DJ at England team-mate’s Jos Buttler’s wedding – and his performances in Sri Lanka were music to the ears of those who believed he should have been given a Test chance far sooner.
Now he’s hoping that similar heroics in the Caribbean will thrust him into the reckoning for an Ashes slot next summer.
“We felt like we all complimented each other very well,” said Leach.
“We spoke about that before the series, we all felt we offered something different. We all needed to stick in there and be as patient as we could.
“To have Mo and Rash’s experience there really helped me.
“They’re both very relaxed characters and that definitely helped me. That also relaxed me and made me feel comfortable.
“Rooty also helped us massively in terms of us working together on fields and things like that.
“In England when it starts to spin, you have very attacking fields, but, on the sub-continent, you play the long ong game a bit more.
“You’re a bit more patient, you have slightly less gung-ho fields.
“But I think that really suited us against st very good players of spin.
“There’s no reason we can’t carry that on in the West Indies and get the year off to a really good start.”
Leach plays his cricket at Taunton on a pitch that’s tailor-made for spinners like him and Dom Bess, who also made his England bow in 2018.
The prospect of bowling on turning pitches has seen some England spinners shrink at the pressure moments in the past. But Leach’s performances suggested that his experience of bowling on his home ground have stood him in good stead – both in Sri Lanka and for the Tests that await.
“It’s a difficult one – it’s very hard to win away from home in unfamiliar conditions,” he said.
“You saw India, who are the No.1 side in the world, lose 4-1 at home to England this year.
“It’s not just England who have struggled gg in the past. You don’t wan want to play every game on a bunsen because that t won’t help you when the ball is swinging round corners.
“I’m not sure what the th answer is, but, from playing on those wickets, I’ve felt comfortable when I’ve been faced with a pitch that is turning. “It’s not unusual for me. It doesn’t feel alien.
“I’ve bowled a lot of overs on those kind of surfaces.
“Sometimes it’s like a game of chess – you have to wait to make your move.”
With a huge year ahead for England, Leach appears to have made his at the perfect time.