England’s desire to shake up the established order continues, with Leicestershire’s Josh Hull called up for the rest of their series against Sri Lanka after Mark Wood was ruled out with a thigh strain.
Hull, a left-arm quick who turned 20 on Tuesday, has a limited red-ball record at domestic level. His 10 first-class matches have resulted in 16 wickets at 62.75. In Leicestershire’s County Championship fixture against Gloucestershire this week, he returned figures of one for 133, going at close to six an over.
But Hull impressed in England Lions’ victory over Sri Lanka earlier this month, taking five wickets in the match and accounting for the experienced middle order of Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal and Dhananjaya de Silva in the tourists’ first innings.
Once again from the current England regime, this is a preference of natural attributes over statistics, a desire to take a punt. Hull’s height – 6ft 7in – was mentioned in the press release announcing his inclusion, and his left-arm angle makes him unique in the current squad. England can point to Shoaib Bashir as an example of a young bowler finding more success at Test level than in county cricket. Bashir, now England’s first-choice spinner, was called-up last year after just six first-class appearances had returned 10 wickets at 67.
Hull came to attention last year when helping Leicestershire win the One-Day Cup, taking 17 wickets in the tournament and bowling the last over of the final against Hampshire. He represents another recent success story for Leicestershire’s academy after Rehan Ahmed, his county colleague, became England’s youngest men’s Test debutant against Pakistan in December 2022.
Hull’s inclusion comes after Wood’s strain, which stopped the 34-year-old from taking to the field on the final day of England’s first Test victory at Old Trafford. England also have Olly Stone in their squad, with the Nottinghamshire quick closer to a like-for-like replacement for Wood than Hull. An appearance for Stone in the second Test at Lord’s would be his first in the longest form for England since 2021, injuries having derailed him since.
If Hull is granted a debut at Lord’s, he can take inspiration from others who have come before him at the venue. Last year it was Josh Tongue, taking a five-wicket haul against Ireland in his first international appearance. Last month it was Gus Atkinson, collecting 12 against West Indies on his Test bow.
“It’s come around pretty quickly, I didn’t think it would happen this fast, but I am really excited to be joining them,” Hull told BBC Radio Leicester about his call-up.
“I was happy with how I performed [for 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.”
Wood’s absence is the only change from the squad for the first Test, with Jordan Cox, who struck a 124-ball 141 for Essex against Hampshire on Friday, remaining the spare batter in the 13-man group.
