Of all the great things to have emerged from Ben Stokes’ incredible Ashes knock at Headingley, this one little detail never came to light: the England all-rounder did not use his own crotch guard, partner Jack Leach has revealed.
That’s not all. Headingley wasn’t a one-off; Stokes regularly uses Leach’s protective equipment.
The quirky relationship began at Lord’s, when Stokes, unable to find his own box, turned to Leach to ask for his. And in that one moment, the bond was formed, and it’s been unbreakable since.
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Leach and Stokes have a quirky relationship[/caption]
“He uses my box now,” Leach told BBC Somerset. “In the Lord’s game, he had to get ready quite quickly. There were a couple of wickets and he lost his box, so he was panicking. He was like, ‘Leachy, can I borrow your box?’
“He was not out at the end of the day and he was like, ‘this is going to sound weird, but I need to keep using your box’. So, obviously, I was like, ‘yeah, that’s fine’.”
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It’s worked like a charm; since borrowing the guard, Stokes has struck centuries in consecutive Tests. At Lord’s, he made an unbeaten 115 in the second innings, after England had been reduced to 71-4.
That, however, was only a preview of what was to come at Headingley. Chasing an improbable 359, England were 286-9 when Stokes launched a stunning counter-attack on Australia, with Leach at the other end, to script a famous win. With the help of 11 fours and eight sixes, Stokes made Australia’s world-class attack – the same one that had rolled the hosts over for 67 in the first innings – look pedestrian.
Go on Jack, talk us through it one more time…#Ashes #WednesdayWisdom pic.twitter.com/C3c4S7k4C7
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 28, 2019
It was another performance for the ages in a golden summer for the New Zealand-born all-rounder, after his World Cup heroics in the greatest tournament final of all time.
“After that (Lord’s) innings, he was like, ‘mate, I’m going to have to keep that box now – it’s a bit of a superstitious thing’,” Leach added. “If Ben Stokes is happy, then I’m happy. It obviously worked again in this case.”
During the course of this English summer, Leach has made 92 as a nightwatchman opener, faced 17 famous deliveries with utmost diligence in the closing moments of an epic chase, partnered Stokes in an unbelievable last-wicket stand of 76, and hit the run that levelled the scores and kept England’s Ashes pursuit alive. Yet his willingness to share his protective equipment has proved to be one of his most significant contributions.
