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England have rolled the dice once again for their final Test of the summer, handing rookie seamer Josh Hull his first taste of international cricket.
Chasing a rare clean sweep of six wins in a row, England have thrown the 6ft 7in left-armer in to face Sri Lanka at the Kia Oval in place of Matthew Potts.
The 20-year-old comes in with the slenderest of CVs, having taken a grand total of 16 first-class wickets in 10 matches. He has struck just twice in three Vitality County Championship appearances this season, with his average of 182.50 catching the eye for all the wrong reasons.
But England have made a habit of gambling on young talent since head coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes took charge, throwing Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir in with even fewer games under their belt and promoting the likes of Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson this summer ahead of more established campaigners.
More often than not, those instincts have served the side well and Ollie Pope – who this week completes a three-game run as stand-in skipper for the injured Stokes – is enthused about watching Hull enter the fray.
“He’s obviously got a massive ceiling,” said Pope, in an apparently accidental pun on the lofty paceman.
“He’s pretty massive himself as well, which is handy as a bowler. When you’re 6ft 7in and you can get it down, pushing up to the 85-90mph mark with a bit of swing and the left-arm angle, there’s a lot to like.
“It’s a great week for him to come in, learn a little bit and show off exactly what he can do.”
England have made it clear that the old idea of taking the ‘next cab off the rank’ – combing the county averages for the most consistent performers – is no longer in play and Hull’s modest statistics have not been held against him.
Instead, England see a player with the physical attributes to cause trouble at the highest level and a different profile to those already in the system.
“We’ve played four right-arm seamers for the first two games so it’s just something different for the opposition batters to think about,” said Pope.
This is a great opportunity for him, you can show exactly what you can do— Ollie Pope on Josh Hull
“It’s a point of difference and he’s got some good pace when he’s clicking in the nets.
“The numbers sometimes speak for themselves but there’s obviously a bigger picture with some of the guys. There’s a little bit more to the numbers and I think it’s credit to the way the guys have gone about it, the boldness from Brendon and Ben to get these guys in the squad at such a young age.
“Why not get him in? This is a great opportunity for him, you can show exactly what you can do in the international stage.”
McCullum has spent the last two years overhauling England’s red-ball team but is about to take a broader role, having agreed to oversee all formats from the start of next year.
Matthew Mott was sacked as limited-overs head coach after two disappointing World Cup campaigns saw England surrender their T20 and 50-over titles, with the roles now reunited under McCullum’s banner.
Asked if dividing his time between both set-ups would dilute his attention to the Test side, Pope insisted there was nothing to fear.
“I’d be very surprised if he gave that impression at all,” he said.
“He’s obviously going to have a little bit more time on the road with a busy winter ahead. But I think the way he is as a person, whenever you’re with him, he’s 100 per cent with you. I’m sure that won’t affect him at all.
“We’ve seen the impact he’s had on us as a Test team, as individuals and as a team in general, which I think he can then transfer into the white-ball stuff as well. He’s a real optimist and I think that’s really good in the cricket world.”
