‘I’ve got nothing to lose and a lot to gain’ – Leach eager to make an impact on Ashes debut

Jack Leach

Jack Leach, the England all-rounder, said that he has “nothing to lose”, after he was named in England’s 12-man squad for the second Ashes Test, beginning on Wednesday, 14 August, at Lord’s.

Leach replaced Moeen Ali, after the off-spinner failed with bat and ball at Edgbaston. The 28-year-old, who is almost certain to take the field at Lord’s, is bracing for the role of lead spinner in the team.

“It feels like I’ve got nothing to lose and a lot to gain,” Leach said on BBC radio’s Sportsweek. “I just want to go and do my thing.”

Former England captain Nasser Hussain had marked out Leach as a potential counter to Steve Smith, who continued his glorious run in Test cricket, aggregating 286 runs in the first Test.

“There are the stats showing Smith is slightly worse against left-arm spin, they might want to try a bit of that and Jack Leach is waiting,” Hussain had written in his column for Sky Sports last week.

Leach, who with 18 scalps was England’s joint-highest wicket-taker in their 3-0 series win in Sri Lanka last year, looked forward to the challenge of bowling to Smith, but said that he’d like to focus on the entire batting line-up.

“There has been a focus on his supposed weakness against left-arm spin,” he said. “I suppose those stats are there but I’ve just got to — if I’m in the XI — I’ve got to do my thing and bowl as well as I can and see what happens.

“It’s the same for every batter. I want to get every batter out. Yes, there’s Steve Smith, but there’s 10 other guys as well and I’ll be focusing on all of them.”

Leach went wicket-less in his previous Test, against Ireland, also at Lord’s, but was England’s star with the bat, scoring 92 in the second innings, which laid the foundation for his team’s come-from-behind 143-run win.