"Leach tries to spin England to victory in vain" #cricket #cricketlover #westindies

"When England declared their second innings on 349–6, setting the West Indies an unrealistic 286 runs from 71 overs, I turned to my cricket Editor and only half jokingly stated that England captain Joe Root should let Jack Leach “wheel away” from one end all afternoon long in the hope he might spin some order out of his cricketing chaos. The odd over here and there aside, Leach did in fact bowl all afternoon and long into the Antiguan evening too as he finished with 3 wickets for 57 runs from his mammoth 30 overs. As in the first West Indian innings, Leach bowled umpteen maiden overs, looked threatening as England’s best bowler and could have had a bagful of wickets rather than the 3 he snagged in addition to the 2 in the first innings.

Zak Crawley took a sharp edged catch right on the cusp of the Tea Break to dismiss Sharmarh Brooks for 5 off the bowling of Leach but Crawley also dropped opening batsman John Campbell when he had scored just 1.

This was a familiar pattern for England’s spin bowler as he deservedly took wickets and yet with more catches held and the rub of the green going his way with the several DRS reviews he was involved with, he could’ve spun his team to a fantastic Test Match victory".

The above is an extract from the chapter being read here and forms part of the book on Test Match cricket I've always wanted to write and which I self-published in May 2023.

The link immediately below is for a book I'm immensely proud of and there are links for ways and means in which to support me, if you are able, to thumb the eye of the traditional publishers who refused to read my original manuscript!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5Z3FVYC

https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

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