Ashes: Australia’s attack on England spinner Jack Leach was calculated and brutal

It was brutal. It was pre-meditated. And it was a calculated attack that looks likely to knock Jack Leach out of this Ashes and quite possibly beyond.

The figures tell the sorry tale of England’s spinner in this horror show of a first Test. 

The man who was meant to bring control while England’s seamers found their legs in the Brisbane heat was smashed for 95 off 11 overs on a second day that confirmed beyond all doubt that Joe Root and Chris Silverwood picked the wrong team at the Gabba. 

David Warner in particular led the way for Australia and got after Leach at the Gabba 

Leach has been here before — and the way he recovered from a mauling by Rishabh Pant in Chennai last winter showed immense character — but this had an air of finality about it, a template for any attacking batter to employ against Leach in any Test first innings. 

Significantly, it was David Warner who led the way, the opener who did not usually hang around long enough during the 2019 Ashes to smash the left-arm spinner because Stuart Broad got him out cheaply.

Now Warner, quickly followed by Marnus Labuschagne and even Travis Head, who spent the summer struggling with Sussex but now boasts the joint-third fastest hundred in Ashes history, have got after Leach it is difficult to see a way back for him in this series.

Unless England somehow muster huge second-innings runs and give Leach…