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ToggleWhen Josh Hull, the tall left-arm pacer of Leicestershire, was added to the squad for the last two London Tests of the ongoing three-match series against Sri Lanka, one hardly guessed England would give him a debut cap. Still, it has become a reality as the 6ft 7-inch tall seamer will make his first red-ball appearance for the red-ball team at the Oval.
Hull will replace Matthew Potts, as England name only one change from their side that clinched an undefeated lead of 2-0 after their Lord’s Test victory by 190 runs last week. The 20-year-old was a left-field replacement when Mark Wood, one of the premier expressive pacers for the Ollie Pope-led side, was ruled out of the series with a thigh injury.
Based on his performances in the current County Championship, he hasn’t been at the top of his game, picking up 11 wickets at an average of over 80 in nine games for the Foxes, but one of the biggest qualities of the bowler is his physical attributes which helped in securing 5/74 on England Lions debut last month.
England plan future around Josh Hull across formats
The Huntingdon-born has played ten first-class games for the team, where he has picked up a total of 16 wickets at an average of 62,75 and a strike rate of 76.5, with a best of 3/30 in an innings. He has also been named in the white-ball squad for the Jos Buttler-led side against Australia later this month.
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The stand-in captain for the series, Ollie Pope, has been excited with the inclusion of the pacer, as he pointed out the difference that the pacer would bring with a different angle in the game.
“With the height, you can draw in some more edges with that extra bounce. It makes it a lot harder to drive the ball, especially if there is a little bit of bounce at The Oval – which there can be, especially early in the game.” The England captain expressed in the pre-match presser.
The veteran also addressed that the team had been using four right-arm pacers till now in the games, and they thought of going with something new which is why they went with a left-arm swinging pacer.
“And then the angle, We’ve played four right-arm seamers for the first two games, so it’s just something different for the batters to think about in the opposition, with the ball coming into the right-hander, and away from the left-hander, with that swing.” The home-boy of Surrey explained before the third Test. “It’s a point of difference, and he’s got some good pace as well when he’s clicking in the nets.”
It was a different sort of thought process from the England team, as Potts claimed five wickets at an average of 29.60 in the first two games of the series. Gus Atkinson has enjoyed a pretty good week at Lord’s with a maiden first-class century and another five-wicket haul, but given his workload, he could have been given a break for the game.
Since Sam Curran in 2021, Josh will be only the first left-arm pacer for England, and the second one since Ryan Sidebottom’s last red-ball game in 2010.
Shoaib Bashir will now play his last red-ball game of the home summer, as he prepares mostly for the upcoming Pakistan trip, where he will have to take more responsibility to shoulder.
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The third and final Test of the England summer 2024 begins on September 06 at the Kennington Oval in London.
England Playing XI for 3rd Test vs Sri Lanka
Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wicket-keeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Olly Stone, Josh Hull, Shoaib Bashir.