Jack Leach has opted for certainty at Taunton, agreeing a new contract that ties him to Somerset until the end of the 2028 season. The agreement comes a week after the left-arm spinner confirmed the ECB would not renew his central deal for 2025-26.
Leach, 34, remains England’s most experienced current slow bowler, with 39 Test caps, yet he found himself outside the Ashes squad and off the central-contract list in the same phone call from men’s cricket chief Rob Key. “My contract was up, so he obviously told me that and at the same time, said about the Ashes squad and that I wasn’t going to be in it,” Leach told the BBC. “I was gutted about that. That was really my aim for the summer, and it wasn’t to be, so [now] it’s time to reflect and try to keep getting better and get myself back in there… I don’t know from their point of view whether they have completely moved past me, but I believe I’m still getting better and I need to keep showing that in county cricket.”
Those numbers suggest he is doing just that. Leach was the Championship’s only spinner to pass 50 wickets in 2025, a return built on control more than mystery. Yet national selectors have moved towards the extra batting of Will Jacks and the higher-pace, higher-risk off-spin of Shoaib Bashir for their upcoming Australian tour.
The county extension offers Leach stability and Somerset a proven match-winner. Director of cricket Andy Hurry called the agreement “a significant boost for our red-ball plans,” pointing to Leach’s economy rate and mentoring of younger bowlers. The club had already held his registration through 2026, so the fresh paperwork simply pushes the horizon back two further summers.
Where that leaves Bashir is another matter. Despite becoming England’s preferred spinner on overseas pitches, he did not play a single match for Somerset in any format this year. A move away looks likely, with the ECB set to pick up his wages via a rookie-plus central contract if he stays in the England frame.
Elsewhere on the domestic carousel, Sussex have persuaded Jack Leaning to leave Kent on a three-year deal, adding middle-order ballast and an extra off-spin option at Hove. Northamptonshire have converted Calvin Harrison’s loan from Nottinghamshire into a permanent move after the leg-spinner’s tidy September spell.
County squads rarely stay frozen for long, but for Leach the picture is clearer: perform for Somerset, push again for England, and let the wickets speak louder than contract classifications.
