Chastening day casts doubts on Jack Leach's further participation in the series

Leach’s struggles reflected two wider trends in his bowling: he has consistently struggled against left-handers – he averages 60.81 and concedes 4.16 runs an over against them, compared to 24.59 and 2.72 respectively against right-handers – and has been significantly less effective in England’s first bowling innings of any given match than in their second.In that light, Leach always looked like a strange pick for this series: Australia have four left-handers in their top seven, and two of the right-handers, Labuschagne and Steven Smith, average above 90 against spin in home Tests. It is not a coincidence that there is a sustained pattern of failure for left-arm fingerspinners in Australia, with the miserly Ravindra Jadeja the only recent exception to the rule.But while Australia were clinical in pulling off their game plan, Leach’s Test career in the last two years has been a masterclass in mismanagement. In the most recent Ashes Test at The Oval in 2019, he took 4 for 49 in the fourth innings to bowl England to a series-levelling victory but since then has been an option of last resort.He struggled on a flat pitch at Mount Maunganui in the first Test of Chris Silverwood’s reign as head coach, taking 2 for 153 in 47 overs across both innings, and since then has only been used in Tests in Asia. He was England’s leading bowler across the tours to Sri Lanka and India earlier this year but did not play a game in the home summer, and has fallen victim to an ingrained mistrust of spin within the English game.Leach has spent two home seasons in a row running the drinks for England and looked short of rhythm. He struggled to find his length, dropping short and overpitching regularly, and was punished: he bowled 23 full balls which cost 51 runs. After he was taken down by Rishabh Pant in Chennai earlier this year – all five of Pant’s sixes in an innings of 91 came against Leach – he suggested he would benefit from playing more one-day cricket to aid his defensive skills, but he spent the vast majority of the Royal London Cup as an unused member of the Test squad instead.England spinners have been marmalised in Australia on their last two tours: Graeme Swann retired three Tests into the 2013-14 series with seven wickets at 80.00 to his name, while Moeen Ali’s five wickets cost 115.00 apiece in 2017-18. There are no obvious back-up options, either: Dom Bess took 4 for 80 against Australia A on Wednesday but conceded 3.48 runs an over, while England’s attitude towards spin was epitomised by Matt Parkinson’s omission from the Lions team for that game.Having fielded all-seam attacks in six Tests during the Silverwood era, it would be no surprise if England do so again throughout the rest of this series, relying only on Root’s part-time spin after Leach’s chastening day. And so, after two years of planning and repeated insistence that winning in Australia was the Test side’s only priority, England will find themselves relying on a battery of right-arm fast-medium seamers once again.