The Bristol optometrist behind England cricket hero Jack Leach’s vision has told how he had no idea how the glasses he provided became a national sporting icon.

Amar Shah followed the drama of Ben Stokes and Jack Leach’s last-ditch innings to save the Ashes on Sunday afternoon on his phone from holiday in Spain, and because of the basic text updates he was getting, he didn’t realise the whole country was celebrating the unlikely batting hero’s glasses.

Leach is a Somerset spin bowler and tail-end batsman who managed to survive an hour facing Australia’s 90mph bowlers - long enough for Ben Stokes to batter the runs required to win the match, level the Ashes series and prevent the Australians from claiming an unassailable 2-0 lead.

But during that hour at Headingley, with the nation watching, listening and following on social media, Leach kept holding up play, disrupting the bowlers’ rhythm and giving Stokes a rest.

(Image: Amar Shah)

Every few balls, he’d whip off his helmet, get out a little cleaning cloth and give his glasses a careful wipe.

And that everyday action, of a man defying the odds, meant Jack Leach’s glasses went viral across the nation.

By his holiday pool in Spain, the man who fitted those glasses was proud as punch - but it was only when he watched the highlights and then checked social media that he realised his handiwork was now a cause for national celebration.

Amar Shah has his own practice in Cotham Hill in Bristol and, as well as treating patients from across Bristol, he’s probably the nation’s leading eye expert for elite sport.

He’s tested, treated and worked with the British Olympic team, England Rugby, Arsenal, England Cricket and first Gloucestershire County Cricket and four years ago, he began working with the Somerset cricket team too.

And that is how Jack Leach came to him.

(Image: Amar Shah)

“Jack had never been tested before and didn’t know he needed glasses,” said Mr Shah.

“His eyesight wasn’t as clear as it could have been, but he thought what he saw was normal.

“So I’ve been seeing him pretty regularly since then, and we’ve been developing his treatment where he wears special contact lenses, and also glasses, and he mixes it up depending on the situation,” he added.

And that is how it came to be that when England’s ninth wicket went down at Headingley, with the nation’s cricket team still 76 runs behind Australia, the bespectacled and diminutive figure of Jack Leach strode out to bat.

(Image: Amar Shah)

“Without being too obvious about it, if he wasn’t wearing those glasses he’d probably be pooing his pants a lot more facing a 90mph bowler than otherwise. He wouldn’t have been able to see it, really,” added Mr Shah.

“If you spoke to Jack, he’d say his glasses and his treatment here with us played a massive part, and I am so pleased for him, because he is such a lovely guy,” he said.

Mr Shah is on holiday, and had been trying to avoid all things from back home. “I’ve been lying by a pool trying to avoid technology, and just checking the score at the end of the day.

“When we were 50 something for 2 overnight I saw, and then saw that it was 76 needed with the last man in, I thought that was it, it was all over,” he said.

“But I knew that was Jack, so I was hiding the phone from my partner, finding some shade and just watching for updates on the score,” he said.

Like the rest of the transfixed nation, which stopped to watch an amazing hour of survival from Jack Leach and the greatest innings by an England batsman from Ben Stokes, out by the pool in Spain, Mr Shah was glued.

(Image: Getty Images)

“I thought if I went and watched it on Sky I’d jinx it. I thought if I switched on to the BBC commentary to listen I’d jinx it. So there I was sat on a box in the shade just looking at the text updates. It never mentioned Jack and his glasses,” he said.

“When I watched the highlights back I saw that they kept showing him cleaning his glasses. I thought to myself: ‘That’s my little cleaning wipe - I should have made the logo bigger so people could see it!’

“Then I checked Twitter and saw everyone was talking about Jack and his glasses. It was lovely to see.

“I still play cricket and am an avid England cricket fan. I sent Jack a message last night to say well done.

“I think there was probably a bit of playing for time in him cleaning his glasses so often. He said in an interview afterwards that Ben Stokes was out on his feet so he wanted to delay things to let him get his breath back.

“His glasses wouldn’t have steamed up - we specifically used special lenses that don’t steam up - but I imagine he was doing it too to try to cool down.

"We sat down with him a while back to talk about what he’ll do when batting, and came up with the idea of him wearing a headband to try to keep the sweat out of his eyes and glasses.

“It would have been very hot out there, and with all the pressure, and if you’ve ever worn a cricket helmet, you’ll know just how uncomfortable and hot it is,” he added.

“But I’m just dead chuffed - it’s great to be part of something like this, to have played a part, to have helped such an amazing victory like that,” he added.

In the 24 hours since that incredible hour, Jack Leach’s glasses have become a national sporting icon.

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The Wikipedia entry for the Ashes was altered by some wag suggesting that his glasses had been melted down and added to the urn itself, while many on Twitter - including Ben Stokes himself - suggested that he’d earned free glasses for life from the match’s sponsors, who are, ironically enough, Specsavers.

Mr Shah is keen to point out that, while Specsavers might sponsor the Ashes series, it was his little practice and team of five that were the ones who made the difference and that, no, Jack Leach did not go to Specsavers but Cotham Hill.