Stand-in England captain Ollie Pope has described surprise newcomer Josh Hull as having “massive” potential after the towering left-arm seamer was named as a debutant for the third Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval, which starts on Friday.
Leicestershire prospect Hull, who posted 5-74 on his England Lions bow in August and has taken 11 wickets in nine County Championship appearances for Leicestershire, will replace Matthew Potts when the hosts start with an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series after a 190-run win at Lord’s.
“When you’re 6ft 7in and you can get it down pushing up to the 85-90mph mark, and with a bit of swing with the left-arm angle, there’s a lot to like about it,” said Pope, who is deputising for the injured Ben Stokes.
Ready to round off the Test summer in style ✨
Let’s do this, @Joshhull04_ 👊 pic.twitter.com/sfcgbnhfwo
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 4, 2024
“It’s a really exciting week for him. 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.”
Josh Hull ‘different’ for England
“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 obviously away from the left-hander with that swing,” added Pope.
“It’s a point of difference and he’s got some good pace as well when he’s clicking in the nets.”
𝗛𝗨𝗟𝗟𝗬𝗬𝗬𝗬𝗬𝗬𝗬𝗬𝗬 🤩🏴
Academy graduate Josh Hull will make his @englandcricket Test debut against Sri Lanka on Friday. 🦊
So proud of you, @Joshhull04_. 💚 pic.twitter.com/QmgMAJ9tur
— Leicestershire CCC 🦊 (@leicsccc) September 4, 2024
Josh Hull stats
Hull is in England’s white-ball squads to face Australia later in September and will become the first left-arm seamer to play a Test for England since Sam Curran in 2021.
The 20-year-old made his first-class debut last year and was initially added to the squad before the second Test following an injury to Mark Wood.
In one early show of his promise, academy product Hull bowled as Leicestershire successfully defended eight in the final over to win the One Day Cup last September by beating Hampshire in the final.
England team vs Sri Lanka
“The numbers sometimes speak… but there’s obviously a bigger picture with some of the guys,” said Pope, praising coach Brendon McCullum for his selections.
“Shoaib Bashir, with the way he’s done, and Josh Hull coming in, and the ceiling that he has, just shows there’s a little bit more to the numbers.
“It’s a credit to the way the guys have gone about it and the boldness from Brendon and Ben to get these guys in the squad at such a young age as well.”
England XI vs Sri Lanka: 1 Dan Lawrence, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope (c), 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Jamie Smith (wk), 7 Chris Woakes, 8 Gus Atkinson, 9 Olly Stone, 10 Josh Hull, 11 Shoaib Bashir
