Mason Crane out of New Zealand tour with back injury as Jack Leach replaces him in England cricket squad

Mason Crane’s tour of New Zealand is over after being today diagnosed with a stress fracture of the lower back.

The 21-year-old leg-spinner, who made his Test debut in the final Ashes Test in Sydney in January, will be replaced in England’s squad for the upcoming two-match series against New Zealand by Somerset’s Jack Leach.

Crane had originally sustained what was thought to be a minor back injury on the recent England Lions tour of the Caribbean.

But he will be flying home in the next 24 hours after two scans in Hamilton this week revealed a fracture that will keep him out for at least 10 weeks.

That will see Crane miss the start of the County Championship season for Hampshire and will be a blow to his hopes of establishing himself in England’s squad this summer ahead of next winter’s tours of Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Adil Rashid would surely have been chosen to replace Crane on this tour had he not chosen to effectively end his Test career when signing a white-ball-only contract with Yorkshire last month.

However, Leach now has a golden opportunity to establish himself in England’s senior set-up after years of being overlooked.

The 26-year-old has been the outstanding spinner in county cricket, taking 116 County Championship wickets over the past two summers.

But he suffered a major setback two years ago when biometric tests at England’s performance centre at Loughborough picked up an irregularity in his action.

Leach would have been a certainty to replace the injured Zafar Ansari midway through England’s tour of India in 2016 had it not been for that kink in his action. Liam Dawson was picked instead.

Yet he has had great success since remodelling his action and took 51 Championship wickets at an average of 25 for Somerset last season.

He also had an outstanding tour of the Caribbean with the Lions earlier this year, taking 18 wickets in three unofficial Tests against West Indies A. Crane took just one in two matches.

Meanwhile, Ben Stokes’ chances of playing a full part in next week’s opening day-night Test in Auckland received a boost today when he was selected in England’s team for the final warm-up match against a New Zealand XI at Seddon Park.

The all-rounder has been suffering from a back injury since the end of the one-day series last Saturday and missed the first tour match here earlier this week.

That raised fears he might only be able to play as a specialist batsman when the Test series starts on Thursday.

Although named as just a batsman in a 12-man team for this second two-day match, England are hopeful Stokes will be able to bowl come the first Test at Eden Park.

The 26-year-old has responded well to the pain-killing injection he had on Tuesday and practiced for the first time since last weekend when he batted in the Hamilton nets this morning and did fielding and sprinting drills on the outfield at tea.

Stokes did not field when England bowled today but will bat against the New Zealand XI on the final day of this match tomorrow.

He will then step up his recovery by bowling in the Eden Park nets on Monday.

England took 13 wickets on the first day of this match, with two each for James Anderson and Stuart and three apiece for Moeen Ali and the part-time spin of captain Joe Root.