Dom Bess misses out on England recall to replace injured Jack Leach

Exeter-born Dom Bess has missed out on selection for the first two Test matches of the Ashes series between England and Australia. The 25-year-old former Somerset player was one of several names mentioned as a potential replacement for the injured Jack Leach.

But it has now been confirmed that Brendon McCullum and Bet Stokes have opted for Warwickshire’s all-rounder Moeen Ali, meaning Bess will have to sit out the first two matches, at the very least.

Leach injury has seen Australia made the betting favourite

The two nations were level pegging in the betting before the injury to Jack Leach. The bookmakers now make Australia the favourites on 10/11. For England fans looking to place Ashes bets, the hosts are 11/8. That’s not a huge price difference when it comes to betting on cricket, but the Aussies are still the marginal favourites to win the series.

Is selecting Moeen a gamble?

The injury to Jack Leach was a huge blow. The Somerset bowler had become a vital part of Stokes’ England attack. And in persuading Moeen Ali to come out of retirement, it could be said that England are taking a bit of a gamble.

The Warwickshire all-rounder retired from Test cricket in 2021, and before his retirement, he had been dropped from England’s Test match side. Moeen also turned down an approach to return to the side in 2022 for the tour of Pakistan, saying he was comfortable with his decision to call it a day.

The Australians will go after Moeen. There is little doubt about that. This will have two possible outcomes. Either Moeen will get taken down ruthlessly. Or he will reap the rewards of the Australian batters being over-attacking.

If it’s the former, then this could potentially open the door for Bess to return to the England side. If things don’t go well for Moeen, the chances are England won’t drop him after two matches. After all, it was England who asked him to come back.

But Moeen himself has made it clear in the past that he won’t shy away from taking difficult decisions. So, should things not go well, it wouldn’t be a huge shock to anybody to see Moeen walk away after the first two Test matches are over.

Could England play two spinners?

There is the possibility of England playing two spinners later in the series if the weather stays dry. This could lead to wickets becoming more spin-friendly, and it could also be a shock tactic employed by this ultra-attacking England team, to hopefully catch the Australians off guard.

The problem for Dom Bess in this scenario is that he’s too similar to Moeen. If England were to go down the route of playing two spinners, the chances are they would be looking at including an attacking leg spinner. Someone like Adil Rashid.

This would unfortunately not work out for Bess either. The chances of Moeen and Bess playing together are very unlikely. It would still be a case of one or the other.