SOMERSET spinner Jack Leach has been reflecting on ‘a dream come true’ after his 11-wicket haul helped Somerset retain their LV County Championship Division One status.
Leach returned match figures of 11-180 as Somerset battled to a 17-run victory over Warwickshire at Taunton – taking 7-106 in the first innings and 4-74 in the second – which included the wicket that earned Somerset the bonus point they needed to guarantee their survival.
The left-arm spinner also took the final wicket of the match to wrap-up a dramatic win – and the academy graduate said it was ‘a really proud moment’.
Leach said: “It’s a dream come true for me to take 11 wickets in a match and to do it in a winning cause makes it feel so much better.
“It was a really proud moment for me and my family having grown up here in Taunton and watched Somerset play a lot.
“To be out there in the final game of the season doing the business means was so special.
"I was in the rhythm and wasn’t thinking about it too much I just bowled the ball into my areas and I was getting a bit of spin and managed to help take five wickets without a run added.
"It was an up and down and after that it took a while to bowl them out and were relieved to get the points we needed, but we always looked to win that game and end things on a high note.
Reflecting on his season, Leach said: “ I had a tough time at the start of the season but that has made the good times feel even better and that injury made me really focus on my cricket, not that I wasn’t before but now I have got ambition and aim to go further with my cricket.
"On Friday I am off to Perth and it sounds like a great opportunity for me to keep on developing my cricket in a different part of the world and a chance to experience a new place and meet new people and I am looking forward to playing more cricket."
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