England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on Wednesday, September 4 announced their playing XI for the third and final Test against Sri Lanka. Uncapped Leicestershire pacer Josh Hull has been added to the team, replacing Matthew Potts. The former became part of the team ahead of the second Test at Lord’s, joining the side as Mark Wood’s replacement.
Hull remains the only change in the team that won the Lord’s Test by 190 runs to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match Test series. Notably, the left-arm pacer averages 62.75 in 10 red-ball games for Leicestershire.
England’s stand-in captain, Ollie Pope also backed Hull’s abilities as he hailed him as “a massive ceiling” – figuratively, as well as literally. “When you’re 6ft 7in and you can get it down pushing up to the 85-90 mph mark, and with a bit of swing with the left-arm angle, there’s a lot to like about it,” Pope was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Josh Hull will get some extra bounce due to his height: Ollie Pope
The right-hander feels that the 20-year-old Hull can extract some extra bounce from the surface. “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, Pope added.
England’s Playing XI for the third Test vs Sri Lanka
Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (C), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Olly Stone, Josh Hull, Shoaib Bashir