Leach, 35, played the most recent of his 39 Tests in Pakistan in late 2024 and has not featured in an England squad since. He has been the standout spinner in Division One of the County Championship across the last two seasons, taking 88 wickets at 21.73 for Somerset.
Leach could yet come back into contention further down the line, with England due to tour India for five Tests in early 2028. But for the time being, he appears unlikely to add to his 142 Test wickets.
England did not select a specialist spinner in their first series since Ben Stokes’ international retirement, relying instead on Dan Lawrence and Joe Root’s offbreaks in their 3-0 win over Pakistan as Bashir carried the drinks. They are expected to operate with a similar balance in their next Test series, in South Africa in December.
“They [Bangladesh] are a good cricket team now, a good Test team,” North said. “It’s not just going over there and facing good spinners; they’ve got some very good quicks, so we know that’s going to be a good test. But we need to have a squad that can give us all options in those conditions as well.
“As much as there’s been a project with fast bowling, you’ll see that there’s now a number of spin bowlers that have come into our system… that we can invest in,” he added. “Where we want to get is to have the depth that we can have some really good, robust discussions around the type of skillset that we’re looking for and the balance of the side.”
England’s main selection dilemma in South Africa appears to be whether Jacob Bethell’s recovery from a knee injury will see Emilio Gay, Jordan Cox, Dan Lawrence or Bethell himself left out of the side, but North said no decision has been made at this stage: “It’s going to be a tough call and tough decision, and that’s exactly the place we want to be in.”