In a way the most remarkable aspect of Josh Hull’s elevation to the senior Test squad is that it wasn’t a major surprise. The six foot seven Leicestershire seamer has a grand total of nine County Championship appearances under his belt, for whom he possesses an eye-watering average of 84.55 with the ball.
When Shoaib Bashir was plucked from the margins of the county game after going semi-viral on social media, his first-class average (67) could at least partially be explained by the peripheral role spinners often play in the domestic game. The same excuse cannot be used for Hull.
Though England have handed debuts to two extremely inexperienced spinners in recent times – Rehan Ahmed in 2022 and Bashir earlier this year – a selection like Hull’s is essentially without precedent in the modern era.
So why have England turned to Hull over the likes of Sam Cook, whose first-class average is under 20, or Ollie Robinson whose Test average remains below 23 after 22 Tests?
The tactical shift
England have not so subtly undergone a major regeneration to their Test team in 2024. At Old Trafford this week, Joe Root and Chris Woakes were the only two members of the England line-up with more than 50 Test caps under their belt. Over the course of a few months England have sidelined several players who had previously served them well; Robinson, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Foakes and Jack Leach have all been recently dropped.
The starkest difference between England in 2024 to England in 2023 is the make-up of their seam attack. England began the 2023 Ashes with a frontline seam attack of Stuart Broad, James Anderson and Robinson – three right-arm seamers who generally operated between 78 and 84 miles per hour.
Since Anderson’s enforced retirement one Test into the 2024 Test summer, the core of England’s seam attack has been Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson and Chris Woakes. Only Woakes fits the 2023 mould, and even then he is a totally different proposition given his ability to bat in the top seven if needed. Atkinson and especially Wood operate at higher speeds and provide England with a wider variety of weapons on slower, flatter pitches.
Why the tactical shift?
England’s managing director of men’s cricket Rob Key famously told English seamers prior to the season – “I don’t care how many wickets you take – I want to know how hard you are running in, how hard you are hitting the pitch and are you able to sustain pace at 85-88mph.”
England are unashamedly looking to add to their cohort of Test quicks able to deliver at those speeds. This is not just about success in Australia but about their wider development as a Test team able to compete in all conditions.
In the same Telegraph interview from March this year, Key cited a group of Australian, Indian and South African quicks who have enjoyed cross-format success, and identified that speed is a common trait among them all. “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.”
What does Josh Hull bring?
Despite that dizzying County Championship bowling average, Hull has demonstrated that he has plenty of potential. As a teenager last year he bowled Leicestershire to victory in the final of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, defending eight from the final over with a set Liam Dawson at the crease for Hampshire. In 2024, Hull was picked up for the Manchester Originals in The Hundred and was clocked at 89mph on his debut for the outfit.
Hull’s most successful outing with the red ball also came this year, for England Lions against a full strength Sri Lanka top seven. The 6 foot seven left-armer took 5-74 across the game as an inexperienced Lions outfit beat Sri Lanka at New Road; his attributes provide England with an almost unique angle of attack. Despite his first-class numbers for Leicestershire, a Test debut in London over the next two weeks is not out of the question. It is yet another out of the box selection from the current regime – two and a half years into the era, you would say that most have worked so far.
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