LONDON: Former England spinner Monty Panesar feels skipper Ben Stokes will give left-arm tweaker Jack Leach a few more opportunities to prove himself, and if the 30-year-old is still not able to deliver, the team management could look at Matt Parkinson to take up the veteran's place this summer.
Leach has had a tough start this summer, having had to sit out for most of the opening Test at Lord's after suffering concussion while fielding. While he retained his place in the side for the Trent Bridge Test, Leach had meagre pickings of 3/226 at an average of 75.33.
"(Skipper Ben) Stokes will give Leach a few more Tests and if he is incapable of producing performances that the coach and captain want from this new look England side, I believe Matt Parkinson will play again this summer," Panesar has said in his column for the Telegraph.
Panesar, a veteran of 50 Tests, added that Leach should follow tennis stalwart Andy Murray's example and hire a personal spin coach to get him out of the form slump.
"Leach needs to follow Andy Murray's example, who made the smartest move of his tennis career when he persuaded his mother Judy to let him train at Sanchez-Casal Academy in Spain — a somewhat different experience than the traditional British way of trusting his growth to the coaches of the Lawn Tennis Association.
"Murray trained alongside Rafael Nadal in Barcelona instead of hurling his lot in with the best talent Britain had to offer. What Leach needs is to have his own spin coach that he trusts and can work with on a one-to-one basis." IANS
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