England has suffered a setback ahead of the Ashes with their first-choice spinner Jack Leach being ruled out of the series due to a stress fracture.
During England's triumph over Ireland in the one-off Test match that just ended on Saturday (June 4), the 31-year-old began to have symptoms. Leach took four wickets as England thumped Pakistan by 10 wickets. Leach's scan on Sunday after the win showed the stress fracture.
Leach made his Test debut in 2018, and since then, he has participated in 35 matches. He has also appeared in the last two Ashes series, including the memorable Test match in Leeds in 2019 where he and the current captain Ben Stokes shared a thrilling last-wicket partnership.
Given Leach is commonly deployed as the lone spinner in the XI, this is a big setback for the host side ahead of the premier series that kickstarts on June 16 at Edgbaston. The ECB confirmed that a replacement for the left-arm spinner will be made in 'due course'.