Matthew Jack Leach was born on 22 June 1991 and is an English professional cricketer who plays internationally for the England Test cricket team.
23 Facts About Jack Leach
2.
Jack Leach used to be employed to park trolleys at a branch of Sainsbury's supermarket in Taunton.
3.
At the age of 14, Jack Leach was diagnosed with Crohn's disease.
4.
Jack Leach graduated from the Somerset County Cricket Club academy in the summer of 2010, prior to signing a professional contract with Somerset.
5.
Jack Leach completed his degree at the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff in sports coaching.
6.
Jack Leach made his Somerset debut in a two-day match against the touring South Africans in July 2012, claiming the prized wicket of Hashim Amla.
7.
Jack Leach made his first-class debut for Somerset in the 2012 County Championship match against Lancashire in August 2012, the rain affected match finished as a draw with Leach claiming Kyle Hogg as his maiden first-class wicket.
8.
Jack Leach returned to Somerset for pre-season on a summer contract and played his first Championship game of the season against Warwickshire due to an injury to first choice spinner George Dockrell; he took his maiden five-wicket haul in the second innings, with 24 of his 44 overs being maidens.
9.
Jack Leach made his Twenty20 debut on 23 June 2021, for Somerset in the 2021 T20 Blast.
10.
Jack Leach made his debut in the second Test in Christchurch.
11.
Jack Leach was dismissed for 1 off 11 balls the next morning.
12.
Jack Leach did not play in England's subsequent tour of the West Indies but returned for the one-off Test against Ireland.
13.
England won the Test by 143 runs, with Jack Leach scoring 92 runs, which earned him the man of the match award.
14.
Jack Leach scored one run, tying the game, in a partnership of 76 with Ben Stokes, to help England win the third Ashes test at Headingley, by one wicket.
15.
Jack Leach gained a cult following over the summer of 2019, with his glasses being a contributing factor.
16.
Jack Leach regularly cleans them through his innings, and has received free Specsavers glasses for life following his heroics supporting Ben Stokes in the dramatic Headingley test.
17.
On 29 May 2020, Jack Leach was named in a 55-man group of players to begin training ahead of international fixtures starting in England following the COVID-19 pandemic.
18.
On 17 June 2020, Jack Leach was included in England's 30-man squad to start training behind closed doors for the Test series against the West Indies.
19.
Jack Leach returned to the team for the winter tours against Sri Lanka and the Anthony De Mello Trophy.
20.
Jack Leach was in and out of the team for the rest of the series - England choosing not to play him when a pink ball was in use - but improved through the series and finished with six wickets at an average of 53.50.
21.
Jack Leach scored 41 not out in the final test but it was not enough to prevent defeat.
22.
The media, and Jack Leach himself, have praised Stokes's handling of Jack Leach.
23.
Jack Leach ended 2022 as the third-highest wicket-taker in the world, behind only Kagiso Rabada and Nathan Lyon.