Sky Sports Cricket's Michael Atherton on Jack Leach alternatives for England: "If you want an absolute like-for-like then Liam Dawson is a steady, experienced left-arm spinner. Rehan Ahmed, Will Jacks, who both did well in Pakistan, would be next cabs off the rank"
Tuesday 6 June 2023 07:39, UK
Michael Atherton looks to how and who England might replace the injured Jack Leach with, ahead of The Ashes, live on Sky Sports Cricket from Friday June 16.
England spinner Leach has been ruled out of the men's Ashes with a lower back stress fracture, after the 31-year-old Somerset slow left-armer developed symptoms during England's victory over Ireland in their one-off Test at Lord's this week.
Speaking to Sky Sports News on Monday, former England captain and Sky Sports Cricket analyst Atherton looked to potential alternatives for Brendon McCullum's England, with Leach a key figure in England's ascendency to this point.
"It's a desperate blow for him [Leach]. He's had a fair bit to contend with over his international career with sepsis, Crohn's and various illnesses and injuries," Atherton said.
"In the last 12 months, he'd really established himself as a central part of Ben Stokes' team. He's been ever-present, Stokes clearly believes in him. He's been flourishing as a spinner under Stokes.
"The expectation was he'd have a key part to play so for him it's a desperate blow. It's the series every England cricketer wants to play in.
"If you want an absolute like-for-like replacement then Liam Dawson is a steady, experienced left-arm spinner. He knows exactly what he's doing.
"He's been in pretty good form at the start of the season for Hampshire. He bats as well.
"England's second and third spinners in Pakistan were Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks, who both did very well when they played.
"Jacks took six wickets on debut in Rawalpindi and Ahmed got seven in Karachi. They would be the next cabs off the rank.
"I don't think they'll be worried about throwing Ahmed or Jacks back in but it's not as simple a decision as that. Bowling leg spin in Karachi is very different to the start of an Ashes series in England.
"If they want a really reliable spinner to allow the quicks to operate at the other end then it may not be that they want a young leg spinner who has not bowled that much.
"The other issue is Stokes' knee. They may decide to play the extra seamer at Edgbaston and just have Root as a spinner because they're unsure about Stokes' knee.
"He hasn't bowled for ages, he did about 10 minutes of bowling in the warm-up before the Test match the other day but he didn't look fit when he took a catch."
Despite the blow of Leach's injury, Atherton said that if was skipper within the current England set-up, he would not reach back out to the Test-retired Moeen Ali.
"I wouldn't if I was captain because they had a conversation with him ahead of Pakistan and Moeen said publicly his time as a Test cricketer was done.
"He was moving on elsewhere to a different focus for the rest of his career in franchise cricket.
"Although The Ashes is a hugely tempting thing, I can't see what would have changed in the meantime.
"They may make that call and who knows what can happen."
Sky Sports Cricket's Nasser Hussain told Sky Sports News...
"Moeen is the third leading spin bowler in Test cricket for England. He has 195 Test wickets, he knows that ground [Edgbaston] very well, he's a fabulous cricketer.
"He's very experienced, and obviously with all their [Australia] left-handers, Moeen Ali is a wonderful bowler to left-handers.
"But the only thing with Moeen is, in an Ashes series, you have to 100 per cent want to be there. It is the biggest stage and you cannot have any thoughts of: 'Do I really need this? I'd given up Test cricket.'
"Moeen has to ask himself, if they go back to him: 'Do I want to get back on that Test match stage?' Because if you're not 100 per cent switched on in the Ashes, Australia come at you hard, and it can be very, very demanding mentally.
"So if they don't go with Moeen, you look at Rehan Ahmed, five-wicket haul on debut, he bowled brilliantly. He's an attacking leg-spin option who can bat as well. That would be the attacking option.
"And then they have Liam Dawson. In England, you need a spinner to hold an end as well, and Dawson does that. And I know Rob Key is a big fan of Liam Dawson. He's a bit more, if you like, of a defensive option in the first innings, like Jack Leach does, and attack in the second innings.
"He's a very useful batter as well, and is a competitor. Liam Dawson is a tough nut. I like him. To bowl and bat in one-day cricket like he does, is mentally tough.
"There's some difficult choices.
"Ahmed is a very confident young man, as we saw in Pakistan. I would personally go for him as he is the attacking option. Trust him and give him a go, he's not let you down in the one Test he's played.
"The only thing is, in England, sometimes your spinner needs to sit in and bowl defensively, because if Australia are going for runs and England have to go back to Jimmy Anderson - 40 years of age, Stuart Broad - 36 years of age, Ben Stokes on one knee, if your spinner isn't doing a holding role, those seamers in back-to-back Test matches will get bowled into the ground.
"And that's what brings Dawson into it a little bit more, doing a holding role, and allowing Stokes to rotate his seamers at the other end.
"Shane Warne always used to say with young leg-spinners and spin in general, captaincy of them is absolutely vital. The confidence you give them and the field you set them."
