Joe Leach’s seven wicket haul against Hampshire lifted the Worcestershire captain’s tally of first class wickets to a magnificent 200 since the start of the 2015 season.
Leach carried on where he has left off during the past three seasons with returns of 4-42 and 3-55 giving him match figures of 7-97.
He was gradually eased into the attack in 2014 after Gareth Andrew’s back problem earned him a recall after four Championship matches and he ended that campaign with 33 wickets from 12 games.
But it was in 2015 that Leach’s bowling lifted off in superb style after he had again been omitted from the team for the first two Championship games.
That Division One season brought the Stafford-born Leach 59 scalps in 14 games.
The following year brought him 65 victims from 16 matches and last summer – his first as captain – he did even better despite the reduction in Championship matches to 14 with 69 wickets.
That added up to 193 wickets in three years and now his performance at the Ageas Bowl in helping Worcestershire bowl out Hampshire twice has taken him to that 200 wicket milestone in the last three years.
It has been achieved in only 41 matches – a staggering average of almost five wickets every game in that period.
The fact Leach has been in the top 10 of the PCA Most Valuable Player rankings for the past three seasons highlights his sterling contribution to the Worcestershire cause.
