Jack Leach has been removed from the first LV = insurance test against New Zealand at Lord’s, and is doubtful for next week’s second test at Trent Bridge, after suffering symptoms of concussion after a heavy fall in the countryside. Concussion protocols allow a player to be substituted out of the game as long as what comes in is a similar substitute. So England have opted for Matt Parkinson, who is heading to Lord’s from Manchester and will join the XI as soon as he arrives. Dom Bess and Moeen Ali, who retired from test cricket last year but have expressed a willingness to consider a return, were among the other potential calls Parkinson won to reach the XI and play the his first test match. The 25-year-old Lancashire leg player has 126 ports in 37 first-class games.
Leach, who was playing in his first home Test game since the Ashes in 2019, suffered an injury in the sixth over of the game as he chased a Devon Conway drive to the point limit.
When Leach threw himself, successfully dragging the ball backwards from the edge of the rope, he landed hard on his head and appeared to have injured his neck during the process. The New Zealand medical team was the first to enter the scene and treated him for a few minutes before he could walk from the pitch to the pavilion.
However, after further examination by the ECB’s medical team, the decision was made to withdraw him from the party.
“Jack Leach has symptoms of a concussion after his head injury while playing,” reads an ECB statement. “According to the concussion guidelines, he has been removed from this test.”
In a subsequent statement, the ECB confirmed that it will be out of action for at least the next seven days, which means that its participation in the Trent Bridge test, which will begin on 10 June, is in doubt.
“Leach will have a gradual return to play with a minimum period of seven days, in accordance with the concussion guidelines,” the statement added.
Brendon McCullum, the new England Test coach, had struggled to get players to keep chasing every ball. “Brendon said one basic thing for his mindset is: you chase every ball to the limit as hard as you can until it’s on the edge of the limit,” Stuart Broad said Tuesday. “That’s just a mentality of positivity, all the time: you’re going to give it your all.”
Parkinson, who has played nine games for England in white ball formats, has been a regular member of touring squads for the past two years and believed he was about to make his debut in Caribbean testing. He has caught 24 ports at 25.95 in this season’s County Championship, the most number of any spinner in the country.
The incident was the only flaw in a remarkable first morning of the Test series for England, which reduced New Zealand to 39 by 6, with James Anderson and Stuart Broad sharing three early ports before Matthew Potts, in the debut, hit three times before lunch.
Andrew Miller is the UK publisher of ESPccricinfo. @miller_cricket