Wood pulled up mid-over on the penultimate day of England’s five-wicket win within the series opener at Emirates Old Trafford.
England have called up uncapped pace bowler Josh Hull after a thigh injury ruled Mark Wood out of the last two Tests against Sri Lanka.
Wood pulled up mid-over on the penultimate day of England’s five-wicket win within the series opener at Emirates Old Trafford and was unable to play any further part within the match.
Olly Stone is already with the squad and could possibly be in line to play his first Test in three years at Lord’s on Thursday, but England have once more taken a daring selection gamble to switch Wood.
Leicestershire prospect Hull only turned 20 earlier this week and has just nine first-class matches to his name.
With 15 wickets at a mean of 58.06, in years passed by he would have been seen as one to look at for the longer term but the present England has increasingly focused on player profile somewhat than bare statistics.
As a 6ft 7in left-armer, Hull is an intriguing proposition whose height and angle of attack mark him out as a singular proposition.
He has good pace, the power to extract bounce and, as a left-armer, could help create footmarks to help off-spinner Shoaib Bashir.
Josh Hull’s first-class record:
- Nine matches
- 15 wickets
- 58.06 average
- 4.80 economy rate
Hull told BBC Radio Leicester: “It was about half nine last night after I got the decision from Brendon McCullum. It’s a really special moment.
“It’s come around pretty quickly, I didn’t think it will occur this fast, but I’m really excited to be joining them.
“I used to be comfortable with how I performed [for England Lions] but I never thought it will result in a call this early. They’ve got Olly Stone there as the primary alternative, so it’ll be an important opportunity to hitch up and be a part of that environment.”
Hull is currently featuring in Leicestershire’s Vitality County Championship game against Gloucestershire, along with his figures from that match further underlining England’s willingness to overlook domestic form.
In the primary innings at Bristol he took one for 133 from his 23 overs, with an economy rate of 5.78 and 6 no-balls.
Hull’s rising stock was confirmed when he earned an England Lions call-up to face Sri Lanka in a pre-Test warm-up earlier this month, taking five wickets including experienced duo Angelo Mathews and Dinesh Chandimal.
His call-up continues the regeneration of England’s pace bowling group following the retirements of Stuart Broad and James Anderson, with Gus Atkinson making a high-quality begin to his Test profession over the past 4 matches and Dillon Pennington making the squad for the primary time against West Indies before succumbing to injury.
Hull’s selection spells further disappointment for Ollie Robinson and Craig Overton, whose paths back to the international arena look tougher by the day, while Sam Cook – essentially the most consistent county seamer on the circuit in recent times – has been ignored over again.
Sam Curran’s name was also touted as a possible solution, with the all-rounder returning to red-ball cricket for Surrey through the recent round of matches, but his gentle pace can have been a deciding factor given England’s stated aim of constructing an attack to win the Ashes in Australia.
