Towering left-arm quick Josh Hull, playing his first professional match since picking up an injury on Test debut in September, returned with a bang by dismissing Australia all-rounder Cameron Green.
On day one (April 2025) of the County Championship 2025 Round Four match, Hull's Leicestershire reduced Gloucestershire to 34-4. The batting side soon lost half their team when comeback man Hull pinned Green lbw with a corker.
Green, who himself had recently scored a century in the tournament after a lengthy injury layoff, was undone by a searing full inswinger into his pads from Hull. He failed to get his bat down in time and was trapped lbw for four, giving Hull an early breakthrough.
𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗔𝗗. 🪦
— Leicestershire CCC 🦊 (@leicsccc) April 25, 2025
Hull traps Australian international Cameron Green (4) plumb in front. A big wicket from the big man on his return. 👊
GLO 46/5#Foxes🦊 pic.twitter.com/XceP5ht6Z9
Hull picked up a niggle during his Test debut. Initially, it was thought that he would recover in time for the subsequent Test series in Pakistan, but he was ruled out due to a quad injury. He also missed the New Zealand Test series and has not played any form of cricket since his international debut.
At lunch, Gloucestershire were 87-6 in 28 overs, with Dominic Goodman (1*) and James Bracey (13*) at the crease.
Who is Josh Hull?
Hull, 20, was handed his England Test debut in the final Test of the summer against Sri Lanka between September 6 and 10. Despite boasting an eye-watering first-class average of 84.55 before his call-up, he was included in the Test setup with a view to fast-tracking his development as a point of difference in England’s fast-bowling attack. Standing at six foot seven, he has the ability to bowl quickly, and his left-arm angle adds to his advantage.
"Look at the best bowlers in the world: Cummins, Bumrah, Starc, Hazlewood, Siraj and Rabada,” said Key. "They are past the vertical bowling in and moving it away. They are all 85mph plus with high skill. That’s what we need," said England’s managing director of men’s cricket, Rob Key, in a Telegraph interview from March last year.
He was picked in the squad after Mark Wood’s injury in the first Test at Old Trafford, having impressed with five wickets in a tour match against Sri Lanka. He showed patches of brilliance with 3-53 in the first innings but didn’t find any success later on as Sri Lanka gunned down 219 to hand the hosts their only loss of the summer.
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