England cricketer Jack Leach reveals he feared he was dying during NZ tour

England cricket spinner Jack Leach has revealed he feared he was dying during the side's recent tour of New Zealand.

Leach contracted sepsis on the eve of the second test in Hamilton in December.

The 28-year-old, who has Crohns Disease, has told the Daily Mail he was rushed to hospital and feared that if he fell asleep he wouldn't wake up.

He has since recovered and is in Sri Lanka for the side's current tour.

"I didn't know too much about it at the time, how serious it could be, but I remember feeling very, very ill," Leach told the Daily Mail.

"I remember thinking 'don't fall asleep because you might not wake up.' It was that serious in terms of how I was feeling. I was out of it really. My blood pressure was dropping quickly, my heart-rate was 190 and my temperature was 40 degrees. That's when they called an ambulance and got me to hospital.

"Once I got there, got the antibiotics in my arm and on to a drip, I started to feel better quite quickly but it still took a couple of nights in hospital and I was probably still recovering when I flew back from New Zealand. It took longer to get over than I thought."

Leach played in England's first test defeat in Mount Maunganui, taking two wickets in the match, which was his last international appearance for England.

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission