As Mark Wood got ruled out of the remainder of the Sri Lanka Tests, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) named Leicestershire pacer Josh Hull as a replacement. Wood’s scans confirmed a right thigh muscle strain. The right-arm quick suffered the injury during the third day of the 3-match series opener at Old Trafford which England won by 5 wickets.
Back in 2022, Hull joined Leicestershire at the age of 18 after graduating from their club academy system. The following year he made his First-class debut against Yorkshire in the County Championship Division Two and picked up a four-wicket haul.
Hull, who is 6ft 7in tall, played a crucial role in Leicestershire’s triumph in the Metro Bank One-Day Club last season. He made his England Lions debut earlier this month, picking up five wickets across innings to help his team beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets at New Road. Hull also turned up for the Manchester Originals franchise in The Hundred Men’s 2024 season where he impressed with his quick deliveries, clocking as high as 90mph.
Hull only turned 20 earlier this week and has played just 10 first-class matches, taking 16 wickets at an average of 62.75. But he was not expecting a call-up to the senior squad, with the towering Hull telling BBC Radio Leicester, “It was about half nine (2030 GMT) last (Saturday) night when I got the call from Brendon McCullum. It’s a very special moment.”
“It’s come around pretty quickly, I didn’t think it would happen this fast, but I am excited to be joining them. I was happy with how I performed (for the England Lions) but I never thought it would lead to a call this early.
“They’ve got Olly Stone there as the first replacement, so it will be a great opportunity to join up and be part of that environment.”
The left-arm quick is currently in Bristol for Leicestershire’s Championship fixture with Gloucestershire. He is likely to join the England squad on Monday in London ahead of the second Test at Lord’s, which begins on Thursday. The final Test of the series will be played from September 6-10.
England squad for final two Tests: Ollie Pope (capt), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Dan Lawrence, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith (wk), Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.
Comments
0 comment