At 20 years and 17 days, Josh Hull will become the ninth-youngest man to play Test cricket for England when he takes the field at the Kia Oval against Sri Lanka on Friday.
On the list of England’s youngest players, Hull will sit between Sam Curran, who was 19 years and 363 days against Pakistan in 2018, and Bill Voce, who was 20 years and 156 days when he made his debut against West Indies in Barbados in January 1930.
The three men do not just share a young debut. They are all left-arm seamers which, historically, has been English Test cricket’s most curious blindspot.
Voce, a hero of the Bodyline series, has more wickets than any other English left-arm quick, with 98. Of more recent examples, Ryan Sidebottom took 79 and John Lever 73.
Only two others even have 50. Curran, the most recent left-armer to play a Test for England, is on 47 but looks ever more likely to drift off to white-ball specialism. For context, Australia have four left-arm quicks with 100 Test wickets – Pakistan, India and New Zealand have three apiece.
Rob Key, the managing director and selection chief, said on the record that England would love a left-arm quick to complement an attack that has added pace this summer, and looks increasingly varied.
Hull’s selection as staggering as Bashir’s
The different angle of attack is helpful, as are the footmarks that Hull’s size 15 boots (yes, really) will create outside the right-hander’s off-stump for Shoaib Bashir to exploit. Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon are the blueprint.
Hull’s selection is every bit as staggering as Bashir’s earlier this year. Bashir had played seven first-class games and taken 10 wickets at 67 when he debuted in Vizag, but England valued his raw materials – height, turn, drift, dip – over what he had done in the county game.
The same is true of Hull, who has played 10 first-class games, and his 16 wickets have cost 63 apiece. This season for Leicestershire in Division Two of the County Championship, he has two wickets in three matches, at an exorbitant average of 182.5.
Yet he also represented England Lions in Sri Lanka’s only warm-up match, and took five for 74 across two innings. Dimuth Karunaratne, a veteran of 93 Tests opening the batting, said he bowled “really, really well”.
The rise of Hull, a farmer’s son, has been remarkable. Two summers ago, he was playing school cricket, having been overlooked by Northamptonshire.
The former England fast bowler Dean Headley (whose grandfather, the great West Indies batsman George Headley, was playing in Voce’s debut) coached Hull at Stamford School, and was involved in getting him to Leicestershire.
Hull made his debut in all three formats there last summer, including performing well in the MetroBank One-Day Cup final at Trent Bridge. It is not hard to see how he caught England’s eye so quickly.
“He’s 6ft 7in, he’s got size 15 feet or something, he finds it hard to get bowling boots,” Headley said on the Sky Cricket podcast this week.
“He’s strong, like farmer’s stock strong. He’s very coachable, and has a massive appetite to learn. Well, he’s a got a massive appetite as well. He eats like there’s no tomorrow and I think he’s still growing, to be honest.”
‘Quiet, but confident in himself’
Ollie Pope, who is captain this week and also made his debut at 20, said: “When you’re 6ft 7in, 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.”
Hull, according to Headley, is “quiet, but confident in himself”.
At training on Wednesday, he stuck close to James Anderson, England’s fast-bowling mentor who was phased out of the attack in the sweep of regeneration that has included Hull being called up.
Hull will be one of the tallest cricketers in England’s history, and their latest punt. This is a great team to debut in.
He will be the 13th player to make their first appearance under Brendon McCullum. Already, five have taken five-wicket hauls on debut, while Matthew Potts (who Hull replaces in the team) and Bashir instantly looked the part, too. With the bat, Harry Brook and Jamie Smith wasted no time impressing, while Jamie Overton made 97 and bowled well.
This is a great match to debut in, too. England have won the series, and are chasing their first clean sweep of a summer since 2004 (Hull was born during the last Test of that summer).
Sri Lanka’s top order is shaky, and the Oval should provide a bit of bounce that suits him. With a buoyant five-man attack that already possesses plenty of pace from Gus Atkinson and Olly Stone, Pope can use Hull in the moments that most suit him.
Should Hull become England’s latest debut sensation, it would prove that this selection panel have a Midas touch. It would also be the first step towards solving a historically problematic position, and adding another alluring weapon to their attack.
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