THE ASHES 2019

I owe Lyon a lot of beers - Jack Leach

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on

Jack Leach and his glasses became quite a rage after the Headingley thriller © Getty

The 2019 Ashes series was quite a spectacle, what with the quality of cricket, the competitiveness, never-say-die attitude of the teams and the individual heroics. And then there were those spectacles too. While Ben Stokes was the leading man at Headingley in England's unbelievable, come-from-behind one-wicket win, he couldn't have done it without Jack Leach - who made sure to clean his lenses several times, survived for 17 deliveries and profited from Nathan Lyon's missed run out chance, to aid Stokes in pulling off a miracle.

Steven Smith's Bradmensque run-scoring in the series reached its peak with a double century at Old Trafford which helped set up Australia's Ashes clinching 185-run win. But the win wasn't without drama, and Leach had a central role in that as he put on a valiant partnership with Craig Overton that lasted 14 overs and raised England's hopes of a draw. It wasn't to be in the end, and Australia celebrated hard - with Smith even toasting the victory by sporting a pair of glasses.

Leach, already a hero for the English fans - who even sang 'Stand up if you love Jack Leach' at The Oval - had the last laugh. A 43-ball 21 that boosted England's first-innings total in the final Test, finished with the 28-year-old bagging the last two wickets of the 2019 Ashes as the series ended in a draw for the first time since 1972. Later, when both the teams got together, Smith came over to the dressing room and took a picture with Leach, both wearing glasses.

"I did think about having a picture with him, getting him in my glasses! He came to me to let me know that it wasn't about me (the celebrations in Manchester). I didn't know whether it was or wasn't. I was kind of hoping it was, and thought it was a good laugh. I was very embarrassed after Headingley when the video came out of me doing my one. I think I deserved that to be honest!" said Leach, who also spoke about how his celebrity status has grown over the period of the Ashes.

"Yesterday, when I was batting at the end and over there they were singing 'Stand Up If You Love Jack Leach', and then they started over there (in the crowd) as well. I just thought 'what is going on?' Nathan Lyon came over and said to me 'how many beers do you owe me [for the run out]?' I think I owe him a lot. Sport is fickle and I guess you have to enjoy the good moments and not get too down about the bad moments. I have had some luck as well. Hopefully you earn that luck through hard work, I will continue working hard.

"That was an experience for me, seeing how competitive Ashes cricket is. Nothing crossed a line, and fair play to both teams for playing in a great spirit."

Speaking about competitiveness, there was plenty of that on Day 4 at The Oval, in what was the final day of the series. While England finally managed to dismiss Smith before he got to yet another fifty-plus score, Matthew Wade wasn't going to give up on the fight easily. He came up with a battling, counter-attacking hundred en route which he faced a menacing spell of fast bowling from Jofra Archer.

Leach, who was bowling from the other end, was left in awe watching Archer and Wade in the battle of one-upmanship. "You are just watching on. It was very special. We talk about bowling in partnerships and I wanted to keep things tight, he wanted to do things slightly more aggressively. It shows what he can do, he can ramp it up when he wants to. He sees key moments and that was one."

After an energy-sapping Ashes, what next for Leach? "I haven't thought! I wanted to finish this series well. Somerset-Essex next week, I don't know if I'll play yet. I've been part of that Somerset season as well so I don't know. During this series, it's been pretty mentally and physically tiring. But I probably haven't bowled too many overs, not a silly amount. It will be good to go back and try to win the Championship with Somerset because we've never won that."

© Cricbuzz

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