An Oddsworth Opinion
Is Jack Leach still the spinner England need in Bangladesh?
Jack Leach has been left off England's central contract list for 2026/27, and a view doing the rounds says that was a mistake: he deserved at least a development deal, and he should go to Bangladesh because a side should be picked to win the next Test. His record makes that case worth hearing. Since his debut in 2018 he has taken 142 wickets in 39 men's Tests, with five five-wicket hauls along the way.
There is some irony in the idea that the right deal for him was a development contract. A spinner with that many Test wickets behind him is an odd fit for a scheme built for bowlers still learning the job.
Is Leach still taking Test wickets?
He is, though each wicket has cost more than an average Test bowler's. In his last two Tests he took nine wickets at an average of 34.78, while the average for all bowlers in men's Tests over the last two years was 29.19. That is a dearer return than an ordinary Test bowler's, but two matches is a thin basis for writing off a career.
His county form keeps him near the front of the queue without putting him out on his own. Our County Championship ratings rank him 43rd of 201 bowlers, worth about 8 runs a match more than an average bowler.
3.7 a match in his career
Why a tour of Bangladesh helps his case
Leach does his best work in long, slow Tests, where a spinner has to bowl for hours while the seamers rest. In Pakistan late in 2022 and in New Zealand early in 2023 he bowled long spell after long spell, holding up one end while the quicker bowlers took turns at the other, and he kept taking wickets as the pitches wore. That is the workload of a spinner his captain leaned on for days at a time, and it is the kind of shift a tour of Bangladesh is likely to ask for.
On a slow surface, a spinner who will bowl that many overs lets a captain build pressure from one end and rotate the seamers at the other without the game drifting away.
Should Leach be on the plane to Bangladesh?
Yes. His recent wickets have cost more than an ordinary Test bowler's, but his career shows a spinner who will bowl long spells and still take wickets in bulk when the pitch asks for patience. The contract list has gone another way, and that is the board's call to make. For a tour built around long days of spin, Leach has earned his seat on the plane.