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My First Somerset Five-For: Jack Leach
Some of the finest players ever to have graced the game have taken to the field for Somerset County Cricket Club over the years.
These players have created some of the most memorable moments in the history of our great Club.
Over the next few weeks we will be taking a closer look at some of Somerset’s most famous bowlers, with special focus falling on their first five-wicket haul for the Club.
Today we look at one of Somerset’s finest bowlers of the modern era: Jack Leach.
Jack, who has claimed 363 wickets for the Club across the three formats, made his First XI debut for Somerset against South Africa in July 2012 and claimed the scalp of Hashim Amla. He went on to play in two County Championship fixtures later that year.
Jack was next named in the starting line up in April the following year when Somerset welcomed Warwickshire to Taunton in the County Championship.
Marcus Trescothick won the toss and elected to bat first.
The Somerset skipper and his opening partner, Nick Compton both made half centuries and shared a first-wicket stand of 103. Alviro Petersen top scored with 136 and there was an unbeaten 119 from Jos Buttler as Somerset posted a first innings total of 406.
The visitors were brushed aside for just 158 inside 66 overs, and the hosts were batting again before the close of play on day two.
Compton made 105 not out and Craig Kieswetter added an unbeaten 59 as the home side declared on 266, setting Warwickshire an unlikely victory target in excess of 500.
By the close of day three, Jack had taken three wickets and the visitors were 144 for three.
On the final day, Jack accounted for Varun Chopra (108) and Jeetan Patel to claim his first five-wicket haul for Somerset (five for 63) but Warwickshire held on by the skin of their teeth to reach 427 for nine by the close to hang on for a draw.
What does Jack remember about the build up to the fixture?
“2012 had been a bit of a breakthrough year for me and I’d played against South Africa,” he recalled. “I think the Warwickshire match the following year was my third First Class game for Somerset and it was my first at Taunton. It was on tv as well which meant that there were more eyes on us and when you’re just starting out that’s a pretty big deal. I’d watched a lot of cricket at Taunton when I was growing up, so to actually play in front of that crowd was a very special moment.”
What does he recall about the match itself?
“I remember that the game went right down to the wire and we drew despite having been on top. It seems like so long ago. Looking at the scorecard now I can see that there were some big names in the Somerset side that day and I know that I would have been excited and nervous to be playing with those guys. I was just so keen to not let anyone down and put in a good performance for Somerset.
“You can see from the scorecard that Somerset had a lot of big names in the side and I was batting ahead of Jamie Overton! I’m not sure why I was ahead of him. That’s amazing!
“When you’re young you just focus on doing your job as well as possible and don’t really focus on any of the other outside things that are going on. You try to keep things simple and use what’s on offer. Getting a couple of wickets in the first innings gave me a lot of confidence going into the second innings. It made me believe that I could do a job on that wicket. There was a bit of rough out there but back then it wasn’t a particularly spinning wicket.
“Getting that fifth wicket was a very proud moment for me. As a spinner you are looking to take wickets in that last innings and I was very mindful of the fact that we were in a position to try and win the game.
“I remember Oliver Hannon-Dalby nicking behind to Jamie Overton and not being given. We thought we’d done it and it was really disappointing not to get the win. Despite the disappointment it was still a great game to be involved with. Frustration was probably the overriding emotion but I was obviously happy to have got five wickets in the innings and seven wickets in the game.
“That probably gave me the belief that I was good enough to play at that level and it’s quite nice to see it again on the scorecard!”
