Bouncebackability
'Surely he will resume his England career in the forthcoming series in Pakistan next month'
Guest writer Vic Marks has returned to the Cider Press typewriter and has penned something on the remarkable Matthew Jack Leach.
Bouncebackability. It’s not an elegant word, I know. I’m not sure Alan Gibson would have used it; nor even his son, Anthony, who now graces the local radio airwaves whenever Somerset are in action. But time is short and Sam wants his copy and this is one of Jack Leach’s many attributes. He possesses bouncebackability.
We know this from his response to being hindered by Crohn’s disease from an early age and those ridiculous suggestions about the validity of his action and to all those untimely injuries, the latest coming just after the first Test in India last January. And from his response to being omitted from the Test team this summer and replaced by Shoaib Bashir. Jack’s reaction was to give his young friend the benefit of all his considerable experience as well as unlimited encouragement. In the meantime he demonstrated that he can be a force with a white ball as well as a red one.
Jack’s bouncebackability was even evident against Durham last week in the victory that kept Somerset’s pursuit of the Championship pennant alive. He bowled 71.4 overs in the match taking, 12-175. But the first ten were pretty ropey. There was some assistance but the turn was slow. Durham’s top order was populated by left-handers and he has seldom been so effective against them; he was yielding about four runs per over and was being pulled to midwicket far more often than he would like. If he over-compensated he was driven through the wide gaps on the off-side.
A lesser person might have crumpled. There is extra pressure for the spinner when the ball is turning. He is expected to win the match - often with minimal support, though on this occasion Archie Vaughan on his debut provided excellent assistance - and this can become burdensome. But Leach knows all this. And he knew that if he persisted the odds would eventually be in his favour. It took until his 10th over for him to take a wicket, that of Scott Borthwick, brilliantly held at slip by Craig Overton. This was the first of six catches taken by Overton off Jack’s bowling in the match, most of which required the sharpest of reflexes and remarkable athleticism. Usually the ball was no more than an inch or two off the ground as Overton gently clasped the ball in his hands. He is an astonishingly gifted fielder around the bat, as good as anyone I can remember.
Now Leach started to relax; he still needed to be patient in that first innings but he was on his way. By the time Durham’s second innings began - to general surprise on the third evening - he was on top of his game offering the batters no respite. There was no need for many cunning variations now. On this excellent pitch the ball was turning a little more. The batters were trapped and eventually suffocated. One oddity: all twelve of Jack’s wickets came via catches close to the wicket or the stumps being disturbed by a classic left arm delivery clipping the off bail. Usually someone succumbs from an aerial slog to the outfield but not here. Leach bowled the opposition out rather than being gifted wickets from desperate heaves. All very satisfying.
As he led the players off the field I wondered whether I should reconsider the usual caricature of Leach. Post Headingley 2019 he became a cult figure, partly because he seemed a cricketing everyman with whom we could all identify. He never looked a sleek athlete, honed in some modern gym. When batting and fielding he resembled a club cricketer rather than a high flying professional. But Jack now has muscles; he moves quicker and with greater purpose; he has made himself into an utterly reliable fielder - by modern standards rather than those that applied three or four decades ago; he bats more aggressively and hits the odd six. He looks an international cricketer now, albeit a rare bespectacled one.
So what next? Well, surely he will resume his England career in the forthcoming series in Pakistan next month. He might even team up with Shoaib for the first time in red-ball cricket. And I think he should have Tom Abell in the squad for company. But that’s another story.