'Weird' lucky charm that spurred Stokes in Leeds

The bond between Ashes heroes Ben Stokes and Jack Leach may have reached its zenith in the middle of Headingley last Sunday afternoon, but the England spinner says the pair’s relationship had hit an even more personal level at Lord’s a week earlier.

England’s No.11 has revealed Stokes has worn Leach’s box during the past two Tests, a lucky charm that has steered the left-hander to two centuries in as many Tests.

Unable to find his own box as he was preparing to bat in the second innings of the Lord’s Test, Stokes thrust Leach’s protector down his trousers on his way out to the middle, where he made an unbeaten century.

And with Leach’s gift proving to be fortuitous at the Home of Cricket, Stokes wore it again during his memorable knock at Headingley last week.

"In the Lord’s game, he had to get ready quite quickly, there were a couple of wickets and he lost his box, so he was panicking," Leach told BBC Somerset.

"He was like; ‘Leachy, can I borrow your box?’

"He was not out at the end of the day and he was like; ‘this is going to sound weird, but I need to keep using your box.’

"So obviously I was like; ‘yeah that’s fine’.

"After that (Lord’s) innings he was like; ‘mate, I’m going to have to keep that box now. It’s a bit of a superstitious thing’.

"If Ben Stokes is happy, then I’m happy … It obviously worked again in this case."

With it apparent that Stokes wanted to borrow Leach’s box on a more permanent basis after the Lord’s Test, the tail-ender acquired a new one for himself ahead of the clash in Leeds. And just a month after he scored a career-best 92 in a Test against Ireland, Leach – with the new protector firmly in place – produced the most important innings of his life.

Having come to the crease with 73 runs still required, Leach said it became apparent early in his innings that Stokes still believed the game was winnable, despite England’s dire predicament.

"Quite quickly I felt like he felt it was possible and we had a plan to make it happen,” he said.

"When it’s such a big target, you try and break it down to smaller bits. Suddenly they all add up and you’re closer to where you need to be.

"He said I was going to face two or one delivery every over and he was going to face four or five. But we’d also try and get twos where possible because the field would be out, and obviously he’d try to hit some boundaries.

"It was quite a clear plan and I knew what my role was within that."

2019 Qantas Ashes Tour of England

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Peter Siddle, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner.

England squad: Joe Root (c), Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Jack Leach, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes (vc), Chris Woakes.

First Test: Australia beat England by 251 runs at Edgbaston

Second Test: Match drawn at Lord's

Third Test: England defeat Australia by one wicket at Headingley

Tour match: Australians v Derbyshire, August 29-31

Fourth Test: September 4-8, Old Trafford

Fifth Test: September 12-16, The Oval