By Phil Walker

By last Sunday evening, a few hours after discovering his premier spinner was out of the Ashes, Ben Stokes was conducting a WhatsApp charm offensive to tease Moeen Ali out of retirement.
The loss of Jack Leach, ruled out with a stress fracture of the back, had left a hole in the attack. Leach was one of Stokes’ bankers, taking 45 wickets in 13 Tests under him and churning through more overs than anyone else.
After considering the last three spin-bowling all-rounders to debut under Stokes – Will Jacks (too unthreatening), Liam Livingstone (too wild) and
Rehan Ahmed (too raw)...