Somerset's Jack Leach gets England call up as injured Mason Crane is ruled out of New Zealand series

Sport360 staff 16:54 16/03/2018
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  • Leach has impressed for England Lions recently.

    Leg-spinner Mason Crane will miss the rest of England‘s tour of New Zealand because of a stress fracture in his lower back and will be replaced by Somerset’s Jack Leach.

    Crane, who made his Test debut in the final Ashes Test in Sydney in January, rejoined the squad ahead of the two Tests, in Auckland and Christchurch.

    Left-armer Leach, 26, has taken 116 wickets for Somerset in the past two county championship seasons, the most of any spinner in division one, and impressed during the England Lions’ recent tour of the West Indies.

    He claimed the best match figures for an England Lions spinner when he took 8-110 against West Indies A in Jamaica last month, surpassing Graeme Swann’s 8-156 against Zimbabwe in 1999.

    The first Test of the two-match series starts in Auckland on March 22.

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