England gamble on rookie Hull as they target Sri Lanka clean sweep

London: England have once again gambled on young talent for their final home Test of the season against Sri Lanka, picking rookie seamer Josh Hull as they chase a sixth straight win.

The 6 feet, 7 inches (2 metres) tall left-armer replaces Matthew Potts for the third Test at The Oval starting on Friday.

England are 2-0 up in the series after a 3-0 clean sweep against the West Indies in July.

The 20-year-old Hull, who only made his first-class debut last year has taken just 16 wickets in 10 matches for Leicestershire who play in the second division of the County Championship.

This season he has taken just two wickets in the championship at the strikingly unimpressive average of 182.50.

But England have made a habit of taking a punt 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 belts and promoting Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson ahead of more established campaigners.

Ollie Pope, who this week completes a three-game run as stand-in captain for the injured Ben Stokes, is looking forward to seeing Hull in action.

“When you’re six foot seven, you can get it down, sort of pushing up to the 85-90 (miles-per-hour) mark and with a bit of swing with the left arm angle, there’s a lot to like about it,” he said.

“We’re 2-0 up, but I think he’s obviously still going to have those nerves coming in. But we know what he can do moving forward. And it’s a great week for him to come in, learn a little bit and show off exactly what he can do.”

Pope said Hull would give Sri Lanka something new to think about after England played four right-arm seamers for the first two games of the series.

“It’s a point of difference and he’s got some good pace when he’s clicking in the nets,” said the stand-in skipper.

“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 on the international stage.”

Transform England’s fortunes

Pope said McCullum can transform the fortunes of England’s limited-overs teams in the same way he has reinvigorated the red-ball side.

England cricket chiefs on Tuesday announced the New Zealander would take charge of all formats from January and that he has extended his contract until the end of 2027.

“We’ve seen the impact he’s had on us as a Test team and as individuals, which I think he can then transfer into the white-ball stuff as well,” said Pope.

“He brings the best out of each other. He’s a real optimist and I think that’s really good in the cricket world. So, very exciting for English cricket overall.”

McCullum, 42, inherits white-ball teams that have surrendered titles in the 50-over and 20-over world cups in the past 12 months.

When the former New Zealand captain took charge of England’s Test side in May 2022 they were at a low ebb, with just one win in 17 games.

But under his leadership they have won 19 of their 28 Tests, playing an exciting attacking game that has been labelled “Bazball”.

Pope, who has struggled with the bat in recent matches, said McCullum had given him confidence and freedom in his personal game.

“He’s got a great outlook on the game in general and just being able to kind of draw a line under your best and your worst weeks as well,” said the batter, who is deputising as skipper for the injured Ben Stokes.

“I think that’s probably one of his biggest skills as a player, but now he’s sort of got that into his coaching as well. He’s a massive optimist.”

England, 2-0 up in the three-match series against Sri Lanka, have brought in left-arm seamer Josh Hull for the final Test at The Oval.

The two-metre tall 20-year-old, who only made his first-class debut last year, replaces Matthew Potts.

England are just one win away from completing a clean sweep of home Test triumphs for the first time since 2004, having moved on emphatically from a disappointing 4-1 defeat by India in the winter.

Before the Sri Lanka series they beat West Indies 3-0.

“It’d be special to win 6-0 this summer,” said Pope. “And I think winning’s a habit, isn’t it? So I think going forward it’ll put us in good stead. And obviously we’ve got a lot more cricket to come.”

Pope was asked whether taking on the captaincy was affecting his batting — he has mustered just 30 runs in four innings against Sri Lanka so far.

“To be honest, I don’t know,” he said. “I think last week I played a pretty average shot in the first dig (innings), which could happen. But that’s nothing to do with the captaincy.”