ENG vs NZ, 1st Test: Why Jack Leach is not playing?

ENG vs NZ, 1st Test: England’s international home season kick-started today (2nd June) with a first Test match against New Zealand at Lord’s cricket ground. The test match marked Ben Stokes’ first match as the full-time Test skipper. The southpaw didn’t have a fruitful start as he lost the toss and was asked by the opposition to bowl first. But the fortunes soon turned towards him as after that everything he touch turned into gold.

ENG vs NZ, 1st Test: Jack Leach ruled out

England has set the stage on the fire at the Lord’s in the ongoing Test against New Zealand. Their pace bowling unit tested the Kiwi batsmen with great lines and lengths and made them look clueless.

However, England also suffered a major blow in the very first hour of the match as spinner Jack Leach, who was part of the playing XI, was ruled out of the match. The off-spinner suffered the injury in the 6th over the match while fielding near the backward point boundary, which saw him getting out of the match.

Leach dived to stop the ball from crossing the boundary ropes but in the process, he landed straight on his head and injured his neck. He was subsequently taken out of the field. It is now learned as per the ECB’s official statement that the English spinner has shown sign of concussion and is withdrawn from the squad.

“Jack Leach has symptoms of concussion following his head injury whilst fielding. As per concussion guidelines, he has been withdrawn from this Test.” Statement from ECB read.

Related: IPL Team Owners

ENG vs NZ, 1st Test: ECB name Matt Parkinson as replacement for Jack Leach

The concussion rules allow team to name a like-to-like replacement if a player suffers a head injury and shows signs of concussion. As for England, they have named leg-spinner Matt Parkinson as the replacement for the Leach.

The leg-spinner is currently on his way to Lords from the Manchester and will be making his debut for England in whites as soon as he arrives. Parkinson so far has played 37 FC matches and has 126 wickets to his name.

For daily fantasy sports tips on your mobile phone, Fill out the form below