England spinner Jack Leach has expressed his desire to play "as much cricket as possible" across all formats after making a comeback from injury for Somerset last month. The 33-year-old, who boasts 36 Test caps and 126 wickets for England at an average of 34.40, recently signed a new two-year contract with his hometown club, extending his stay until the end of 2026.
Traditionally seen as a red-ball specialist, Leach returned to county cricket in May after a year-long absence due to injury. His knee injury, sustained during England's Test series against India in February, required surgery. Additionally, he missed the Ashes last summer due to a stress fracture in his back.
"Over the last five or six years it's been all about red-ball cricket and how I can get on in Test cricket," Leach told BBC Radio Somerset. "Now is an opportunity where I feel like after injury I want to play as much cricket as possible, whatever format that is, and really test my skills out."
Leach has participated in three County Championship matches for Somerset this season, and made only his second-ever T20 appearance for the club earlier this month in their defeat by Gloucestershire in the Blast. "There are things I can learn from the short format that I can bring into the longer format and vice versa," he said. "I love learning more about the game, and I’ve definitely got a lot to learn in that format."
'A Lot of Soul Searching'
Leach has spent his entire career at Somerset, where he was born and raised in Taunton, amassing 162 appearances across first-class, List A, and T20 formats, and taking 466 wickets. The club's support during his injury and health challenges made the decision to sign a new deal "easy," according to Leach.
However, the frequent setbacks have taken a toll on him. He has only played four Test matches for England in the last two years. "It’s taken a lot of resilience and strength and understanding how much I enjoy the game and want to play and the reasons that I play," Leach said. "You do a lot of soul-searching, and again I’ve got a lot of people to thank who have really supported me through that time."
Leach also deals with Crohn's disease, which causes inflammation of the digestive system. In 2019, he contracted gastroenteritis, which developed into sepsis while on tour with England in New Zealand. He also missed a 2022 Test match for England due to concussion. Leach noted that his most recent injury impacted his mental health significantly.
"The actual area you’ve injured is not the most sore thing; it’s what happens in your brain. What you’re paid to do you can’t do, and that’s hard," Leach added. "It probably hit me at a time when I was on a real high as well. I’ve had my ups and downs throughout my career, and I'm very aware that when you’re in an up, there’s probably a not-so-good moment around the corner, and similarly if you’re in a down, hopefully, things can improve. You’ve always got to hold on to that and stay quite level to it all. It's very easy with the things that you go through to try and hide them, but I feel like it’s a bit of a duty of mine to be able to talk about them."