Leach: ‘Bazball’ approach eases my health fears
Jack Leach credits the relaxed environment of the England team encouraged by Brendon Mccullum and Ben Stokes for helping him manage his Crohn’s disease.
Thinking of his health is pertinent for Leach because the last time he was in Hamilton, in 2019, staying at the same hotel, he ended up on a drip in hospital with sepsis after a bout of food poisoning, which was made worse by the immunosuppressant drugs he was taking to control his Crohn’s symptoms. He was so ill he told himself on the way to hospital not to fall asleep because he feared he might not wake up.
Now his Crohn’s is under control – he has not had a flare-up for months – and he puts it down to the atmosphere in the England squad and the confidence Stokes, in particular, has shown in him.
Stress can be a contributing factor with Crohn’s but Leach worries less now if he has a bad day on the field, and is not continually fretting over his place in the side. “I used to worry about everything. And it [Crohn’s] can be stress-related. So maybe being a little bit more relaxed is actually helping that side of my health as well,” Leach said.
“That backing and feeling like I belong has been the most important thing for me. I’m just trying to enjoy it as much as I can and do as much as I can for the team.”
The New Zealand tour starts properly today with a two-day practice match with a pink ball before next week’s floodlit first Test in Mount Maunganui. Mccullum, the head coach, has dropped plans to play another two-day game over the weekend in Hamilton.
The approach to preparation has changed, with Mccullum’s insistence the players have fun during the best time of their lives – as England cricketers. Before the Pakistan tour they had a week in the United Arab Emirates, where Stokes arranged pit-lane passes for Formula One’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and they arrived in Hamilton yesterday after four days in Queenstown.
It is not much preparation for a side who have not won a Test in New Zealand for 15 years and who have lost five out of five pink-ball games they have played overseas. But Mccullum believes warm-up games are pointless and the emphasis is on trusting the players to know when they are ready.
“We’re working a lot smarter. A lot of guys were away in January but I used January a lot,” Leach said. “We’re trusting ourselves and each other a lot more. I feel in previous tours, because I’ve worried more I’ve probably overdone it, then peaked too early, and by the first Test I’m trying to hold on to that. Whereas I think I’ve got a better chance of peaking at the right time.”