Jack Leach has been handed ‘a hospital pass’ during England’s first Ashes Test against Australia, according to former international spinner Phil Tufnell.
Leach was named among a relatively inexperienced England bowling attack for the match at the Gabba, with veteran seamers Stuart Broad And James Anderson rested ahead of the day/night Test in Adelaide starting next week.
However, that decision looks set to have backfired with Australia holding a 196-run first innings lead with three wickets still remaining.
Australia’s batters seemed to take a particular liking to Leach, with the Somerset slow-left armer going for 95 runs off his 11 overs so far, picking up the solitary wicket of Marnus Labuschagne.
And Tufnell reckons that Leach should have never been put in the situation in the first place, believing that Broad should have played instead of him at the Gabba.
‘He got a little bit of the rough end of the stick – to be slung in on a green top in Brisbane,’ Tufnell told BBC Radio Five Live.
‘There were four left-handers in the top seven and they decided to just come out, play some shots and put him under pressure from the off.
‘It’s one of those days as a spinner where you can think of things you may have done differently, but they went after him and got hold of him.
‘It would have been tricky for any finger spinner to be bowling in those conditions.
‘He’s England’s best available spinner, but he shouldn’t be playing. Stuart Broad should have been playing instead of Jack Leach.
‘He will be pretty deflated but he’s a phlegmatic kind of character.
‘He’s done pretty well for England up until now and it’s just one of those days.
‘But he got thrown a bit of a hospital pass in my book.’
MORE : Jonathan Agnew ‘feels sorry’ for ‘bad selection’ Jack Leach as Australia target England spinner in Ashes opener
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