England’s left-arm spinner Jack Leach is set to return to cricketing action for Somerset during their County Championship 2024 match against Kent on May 17, after recovering from a knee injury.
Jack Leach had suffered a knee injury while fielding during the first day of the test match on England’s tour of India 2024. Leach’s injury got severe on day two which created a swelling on the injured knee.
Despite his injury, he was able to bowl 26 overs in the first innings and bowled 10 overs in the second innings helping the side to win the series opener.
He missed the second test and was expected to be fit for the third test but the officials have revealed that he will not play in the remaining series. He went back to home for the surgery.
Jack Leach has played 139 FC matches and picked 434 runs with an economy of 2.78. He has played 36 test matches for England and bagged 126 wickets.
Somerset’s head coach Jason Kerr has opened up on his opinion on the return of Jack Leach to cricketing action saying, “Having Leachy back in the squad is a big boost for the group, but also for him. It’s been a tough road back for him and he’s worked incredibly hard. He’s an infectious character and he’s got vast experience.”
“He’s incredibly well respected and we saw today in practice that he’s always got time for people. We’re all looking forward to seeing him back in a Somerset shirt and enjoying his cricket, and we’ll make a decision on whether that is this weekend or tomorrow,” said Jason Kerr.
Meanwhile, Ben Stokes has been included in Durham’s squad to play in the County Championship 2024 match against Lancashire on Friday. Stokes has decided to opt out of the upcoming Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 to focus on the County Championships before the home test series against West Indies.
“The decision will always be up to Ben Stokes. He has been through everything he needs to go through and we just needed to tick a few boxes with the ECB. For us, we always talk about playing against the best players in the competition, but to have one in your own team makes life a whole lot different.”
“It will also lift the blokes. Some of them haven’t played with Ben for years, if at all. England cricket needs a fit Ben Stokes and what we see should be pretty impressive,” said Durham head coach Ryan Campbell.
