3 players who can replace Jack Leach in England's Ashes squad

In a huge blow to England's Ashes plans, their lead spinner, Jack Leach has been ruled out for the entirety of the series owing to a stress fracture. Leach has been a prolific performer for England, since making his debut against New Zealand in 2018. He has represented his country in 35 Tests, picking up 124 wickets in the process.

The Ashes is due to start on July 16 in Birmingham and as such, England have just a little more than a week to zero down on Leach's replacement. In recent years, the left-arm spinner has played an important role to keep a check on the opposition, which has allowed the other bowlers to reap benefits.

In the recently concluded Test match against Ireland, Leach picked up a total of four wickets. On that note, here's a look at three players that England could consider as a replacement for the 31-year-old Leach:

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#1 Rehan Ahmed

18-year-old Rehan Ahmed could be chosen to replace Jack Leach

Rehan Ahmed is touted to be the next big thing in English Cricket. The 18-year old has played just one Test match so far, against Pakistan in December 2022. It was a great debut for him as he picked up 7 wickets in the game, including a magnificent five-for. Ahmed's performance helped his side win the Test match in a convincing manner.

England could consider bringing the youngster into the squad for the Ashes and using him as an X-factor. He doesn't have much experience (10 FC games) but the management could still think of unleashing him during the Ashes.

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#2 Matt Parkinson

Matt Parkinson's experience could work in his favour

If Ben Stokes and Co. feel that picking Rehan Ahmed for the Ashes is too big a gamble, they could turn to Matt Parkinson who has plenty of experience in domestic cricket. He has played 47 first-class games, 30 List-A games and 102 T20s and has a total tally of 337 wickets in the domestic arena. In first-class cricket, he has picked up 151 wickets at an average of 25.92.

He is a genuine wicket-taking option, who has also played one Test match previously. Parkinson could be a pretty good option to replace Leach as he has a good understanding of English conditions.

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#3 Will Jacks

Will Jacks has proper batting credentials which could help him find a place in the Ashes squad

Will Jacks is another option for England as they search for someone to replace Jack Leach. Jacks bowls off-spin and can also double up as a genuine batting option. He is an aggressive batter who be a perfect fit in England's brute batting line-up.

Jacks has the experience of playing 46 first-class games, while scoring 1,965 runs and picking up 29 wickets. Interestingly, the 24-year-old finished with figures of 6/161 against Pakistan in his Test debut last year.