Jack Leach said on Thursday night that he now knew about the nervous nineties, after falling just eight runs short of a famous century as England’s nightwatchman on day two of the Test against Ireland at Lord’s.
Leach also confessed to being unusually tired after such a long innings and to be battling cramp in his forearm on a sapping humid day. “I told myself not think about it [the prospect of a hundred] and that made me think about it,” Leach said.
Contemplating his highest score of 92, he said: “I now know about the nervous nineties. They are definitely a thing. I realised that I was two shots away and I started to have some weird thoughts.”
Despite failing to beat Sachin Tendulkar to the Lord’s honours board Leach’s innings was a massive personal milestone and a vital contribution to England’s chances of winning this Test. The No 11 was the highest scorer in the first innings, and has enabled England to acquire a lead of 181 with one wicket remaining. “We have got a great chance of winning,” Leach said. Mind you, the Irish could say the same with just as much conviction.
Without Leach England would be in the mire – Jason Roy was the only other batsman to pass 50 – and he did not try to disguise the fact that he was surprised by the scale of his first innings in a home Test. “I can’t believe it really. I just tried to soak up some balls and to make it easier for those behind me. But it went further than I thought, I just tried to bring it back to concentrating on one ball at a time. It was a simple plan and it worked. It was just a shame it didn’t go a bit further”.
It was also a shame that his dad, Simon, was not there to see him rescue England in the most unlikely fashion. “He was coming,” Leach said. “But he saw the forecast and saw that it was going to be too hot. It would not have been a good place for him to be. He doesn’t have Sky so I gave him my house keys so that he could watch in comfort.”
Another issue for Leach, one of the rare cricketers who bats in spectacles, was that his glasses kept steaming up in the heat. He just about managed to maintain his visibility throughout but perhaps the most reassuring factor for Leach was the evidence that his confidence was returning with the bat after a concussion last year having been struck on the helmet by Morne Morkel. As a consequence of that blow he has had a dismal run with the bat for Somerset. “I’m feeling a bit more comfortable now,” he said.
Another endearing cricketer, Mark Adair, also enjoyed his day at Lord’s, dismissing Joe Root and dispatching Jonny Bairstow for a duck, a horror innings in which bat never made true contact with the ball. Adair propelled a wonderful over at Bairstow, which aroused curiosity from the press corps. “Sorry to be so boring, so cliched,” he said, “but it was the same plan all the while: to hit off stump every ball. It was very, very simple.”
It was also very effective for Adair, who has now taken six wickets in the match. He refused to look too far ahead when he was inevitably asked about the possibility of a very famous Irish victory. “That would be good,” he said “very, very nice.”
