England have suffered a huge injury blow ahead of the Ashes series as their spin spearhead Jack Leach has been ruled out of the entire-five match series against Australia. The left-arm spinner has been sidelined with a lower back (lumbar) stress fracture.
He sustained the injury while playing in the recently-concluded four-day Test against Ireland. As per a statement from ECB, Jack Leach developed lower back symptoms on Saturday. He underwent scans on Sunday and report has revealed a stress fracture, which will keep him out of the forthcoming Ashes Test series.
“The 31-year-old Somerset slow-left-armer developed low back symptoms during England’s LV= Insurance Test victory over Ireland on Saturday.
A scan on Sunday in London has revealed a stress fracture, which will keep him out of the forthcoming Ashes Test series, which gets underway at Edgbaston on Friday 16 June. England will announce a replacement for the Ashes series in due course,” stated a release from the ECB.
Jack Leach has become an integral part of the English team. Against Ireland, he picked up 4 wickets including 3 in the first innings to help his team win the clash by 10 wickets. The left-arm spinner made his Test debut in 2018 and has played 35 Tests so far including the last two Ashes series.
England squad:
Ben Stokes (c), James Anderson, Jonathan Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Australia squad:
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey (wk), Cameron Green, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Todd Murphy, Matthew Renshaw, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, David Warner
Ashes schedule:
First Test: Friday June 16-Tuesday June 20, Edgbaston
Second Test: Wednesday June 28-Sunday July 2, Lord’s
Third Test: Thursday July 6-Monday July 10, Headingley
Fourth Test: Wednesday July 19-Sunday July 23, Old Trafford
Fifth Test: Thursday July 27-Monday 31, The Oval
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