There were 73 runs to win, and a raucous Headingley had just been deafened by the sound of impending Australian glory. As Jack Leach, England’s bespectacled No 11, walked to the middle, all that seemed unresolved were the details of exactly how Australia would retain the urn.

Throughout his professional career, Leach has not been much of a batsman. He has a first-class average of 12. For Somerset this season, he averages 4.5 from 13 innings. He had been selected for England for many good reasons; run-production was not one of them.

So the situation that Leach was thrust into while he kept Ben Stokes company was not really analogous to anything that sportsmen in other games go through. In other sports, however great the pressure they are under, athletes are at least being tested on the skills that have got them to such an elevated position.

This was completely different. Leach is England’s No 11. And while he has been selected because he is England’s best Test spinner, thousands of cricketers up and down the land – not just professionals but also good club players – would consider themselves better batsmen.

A month ago, Leach belied his first-class record to make 92 in a Test against Ireland, almost scoring the first ever century by an English nightwatchman. If the opposition were far more modest than England would face in the Ashes, Leach’s innings was crucial in England winning in spite of being bundled out for 85 in the first innings.