England v New Zealand: Jack Leach reaps rewards after Ben Stokes’ words of encouragement with second Test finely poised | Cricket News

Jack Leach was quick to praise the encouragement and backing of captain Ben Stokes for keeping his spirits up after a tough day four against New Zealand which yielded a personal five-for return.

England bowled the hosts out for 483 runs to set up an enthralling day, but having enforced the follow-on earlier in the second Test match, it looked like they would come to rue that decision when Kane Williamson shared a 158-run sixth-wicket partnership with Tom Blundell to set New Zealand on their way to a second innings lead of 258.

When the prospects of England becoming just the fourth team in history to lose after enforcing the follow-on were at their highest, Leach said Stokes gave them the belief to keep plugging away.

“Stokesy just said ‘give everything you have got’, but he put it a lot better than that,” Leach said. “Sometimes you have to keep going, give that bit more and enjoy the graft rather than worry about things not happening. That was the message – enjoy being out there, you are playing for England and trying to win a Test match.”

While it was Harry Brook who broke the hosts’ resistance, Leach ensured New Zealand’s lead was kept in check as he took three of the final four wickets.

The spinner was rewarded for his continuous perseverance after bowling over 60 overs in the second innings, on a day when England’s seamers looked leggy and tired after a long stretch in the field.

Leach finished with figures of 5-157 in 61.3 overs, at an economy of 2.55 – the best figures of all the bowlers in the England side.

Stokes has backed Leach despite some quarters calling for changes in the spin department, and only Jasprit Bumrah has taken more wickets away from home than Leach since his debut in 2018.

Leach has taken 90 wickets in 22 away games, and only five left-arm spinners have more dismissals than him away from home – astonishing figures for someone who has never been seen as a wicket-taking bowler.

Leach believes England can complete the run chase on the final day’s play and therefore complete a series victory.

“We’re very confident we can chase it down,” he said. “We know how we want to go about our chases. It is a case of us sticking to our process and trusting that will work.”

With the full support of Stokes behind him, Leach feels their relationship on the field is going from strength to strength.

“I feel like I have come on a lot. Stokes has tried to talk about wanting to challenge me, and that is going to help me.

“Him (Stokes) putting me in those situations is really helpful. I have learnt a lot and things I want to take forward into my practice. You need to be stronger for longer. I felt like I was happy with how I bowled yesterday and pulled up pretty tired today.

“It’s been a real good learning curve for me. Stokes is always throwing ideas at me and that’s been really good. Our relationship has really grown as well, and he is helping me a lot. The more we enjoy it the better we play, so that was the message and it worked.”

Sir Alastair Cook believes the New Zealand batsmen allowed Leach to get into his rhythm, adding: “It was a bit of a grind for England. Maybe New Zealand missed a trick at not going hard at him (Leach). They allowed him to bowl, but the 150 partnership was what we expected.

“The five-for was thoroughly deserved, and England needed his endeavour. England are very clear on what is going to happen and it’s set up perfectly.”

Steven Finn added: “When you get through 60-odd overs in an innings, you’re going to be tired. He (Leach) put in a good shift. When you enforce the follow-on, the spinner tends to have to hold down an end, and he did an outstanding job.”