England national selector Marcus North has indicated that left-arm spinner Jack Leach is not in the selectors’ current thinking ahead of the two-match Test tour to Bangladesh scheduled for February, signalling that Leach’s England career may effectively be over.
Leach, 35, played the last of his 39 Tests in Pakistan in late 2024 and has not been included in an England squad since. Across his international career, he has taken 142 wickets for England. Despite that record, North confirmed that the selection panel is looking in a different direction when it comes to spin bowling.
“But as it stands now, those selections around the development contracts and the central contract list show that we’re focusing on a slightly different direction,” North said, speaking on the Wisden Cricker Weekly Podcast.
Why is Leach being overlooked despite strong county form?
Leach’s omission is notable given his consistent performances for Somerset in the County Championship. He has taken 88 wickets at an average of 21.73 across the last two seasons in Division One, figures that place him among the leading spinners in domestic cricket during that period.
England’s spin-bowling plans for the 2026-27 cycle are centred on contracted players. Shoaib Bashir and Rehan Ahmed hold central contracts, while Mason Crane, James Coles and Liam Patterson-White are on development contracts. Richard Dawson has been appointed as national spin-bowling lead under head coach Stephen Fleming, providing a clear structure for the group England intend to develop. North also addressed the challenge of touring Bangladesh, where conditions typically assist spin.
“They [Bangladesh] are a good cricket team now, a good Test team,” adding through a separate remark: “It’s not just going over there and facing good spinners; they’ve got some very good quicks, so we know that’s going to be a good test. But we need to have a squad that can give us all options in those conditions as well,” North said.
What does England’s spin planning look like beyond Bangladesh?
England‘s selection approach reflects a broader effort to build depth in spin bowling for future assignments. After Bangladesh in February, England are scheduled to tour South Africa in December before a five-Test series in India in early 2028, a tour that will place significant demands on their spin resources. North outlined the ambition behind the current contracting structure.
“Where we want to get is to have the depth that we can have some really good, robust discussions around the type of skillset that we’re looking for and the balance of the side. It’s going to be a tough call and tough decision, and that’s exactly the place we want to be in,” North said.
England’s recent series against Pakistan, which they won 3-0, offered a glimpse of their current approach. The side did not select a specialist spinner for that series, relying instead on the part-time offspin of Dan Lawrence and Joe Root. North confirmed that the contracted spinners will be central to selection discussions for Bangladesh and the tours that follow, with Leach not part of those plans as things stand.
