Leach patience pays off as he proves he belongs on Test match stage

Jack Leach's Test career thus far has been an exercise in patience and persistence.

Made to wait over four years from debut to a first Test five-for on home-soil, the left-arm spinner followed it up with five more in the second innings of England's third Test win over New Zealand at Headingley.

It was fitting reward for a fine performance with the ball, and perfectly timed as his place in the side was beginning to come under increasing scrutiny after a trying Ashes winter was followed by a tough tour of the West Indies and concussion on day one of the New Zealand series.

As Leach was helped from the field at Lord's, it looked like his stop-start international career had been abruptly halted once more - and perhaps for the final time - as young Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson deputised impressively as a concussion sub for the 31-year-old, and with Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid both stating their interest at potential Test returns.

Leach has battled with Crohn's disease since the age of 14, while he suffered from a dangerous bout of sepsis in New Zealand at the start of 2020, and his 'at risk' status saw him often the casualty in the Covid landscape that cricket and world sport was played in over the next two years.

But England - and the new management team of captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum - showed faith in Leach, bringing him immediately back into the fold for the second Test at Trent Bridge, being royally rewarded for doing so a week and a half later.

Leach got through more than 70 overs of work in the third Test, sending down 20 maidens and taking 10 wickets for 166 runs - joining Graeme Swann as the only England spinners to take 10-for at Headingley since Derek Underwood 50 years ago.

Swann, part of