The left-arm seamer of England’s Test team, Josh Hull, who made his debut against Sri Lanka in the final red-ball game of the summer at the Kennington Oval in South London, was prized a chance in the squad for their upcoming trip to Pakistan late autumn for three five-day games. But he won’t be able to participate in the tour.
Josh Hull picked up a niggle during the debut Test match, which was the reason behind him bowling only 11 overs in the first innings of the game, where he was smashed for 53 runs around the park but enjoyed three wickets of the opponent captain Dhananjaya de Silva and the opener Pathum Nissanka, both of whom celebrated respective half-centuries.
In the second innings, the left-arm speedster from Leicestershire also got the same treatment for 38 runs in six overs without any success. The lanky pacer picked up a niggle during the game, and that led the England Cricket Board (ECB) to pull him out of the limited-overs series against Australia to provide him enough time to recover.
Josh Hull ruled out of the upcoming Pakistan series with a quad injury
The 20-year-old doesn’t have a long first-class career, having played only ten games for the Foxes apart from the Test match, where he has picked up 16 wickets at an average of nearly and a strike rate of almost 12 overs with a best spell of 3/30 in an innings.
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But the height and pace were the reasons for the captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum to get him early in the format so that they could prepare him for their upcoming Ashes trip during the 2025/26 winter.
However, the injury has led the decision to make for the board to deny Josh Hull a chance in the three-match Test series. The board has decided not to draft a replacement for the game and will travel to the opponent’s country with a 16-man squad on October 1, ahead of the opening game at the Multan Cricket Stadium, which begins on October 07.
At 6ft 7in, with the left-arm angle and ability to bring the ball into the right-handers, Josh Hull could be a great prospect in the future for the England red-ball side if they track him in a good manner, especially during their tour to South Africa or Australia or even New Zealand.
He picked up five wickets in the tour games against Sri Lanka before the start of the series. When the premier pacer of the side, Mark Wood, got injured for the rest of the year during the opening Test against Sri Lanka at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester, Josh Hull was drafted straight into the squad. A strong impression in the training at the Kia Oval caught the eyes of the head coach and the bowling consultant, James Anderson.
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Some of the bouncing balls during the Test match don’t display how good he was during the third Test match, despite being nailed away for so many runs in the game. He didn’t have a great third division two county games leading up to the Test match, where he could collect only two wickets at a hefty average of 182.50.
The ECB will manage the recovery of the pacer, before deciding whether they can push him for the upcoming winter trip to New Zealand. It all depends on how the Huntingdon-born shapes out before the selection of the squad.