England have made a habit of gambling on young talent since manager Brendan McCollum and captain Ben Stokes took charge..
England rolled the dice again for their final Test of the summer, giving rookie seamer Josh Hull his first taste of international cricket.
England, looking to make it six wins in a row, have brought on the 6ft 7in left-hander to replace Matthew Potts against Sri Lanka at Kia Oval.
The 20-year-old has a meager resume of 16 first-class wickets in 10 games. He has batted just twice in three appearances in the Vitality County Championship this season, and his average of 182.50 has caught the eye for all the wrong reasons.
But since manager Brendan McCollum and captain Ben Stokes took over, England have made a habit of betting on young talent, bringing in Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir on far fewer games played and forgoing Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson for established players this summer.
For the most part, that instinct has served the team well and Ollie Pope, who made it three consecutive appearances as replacement captain for the injured Stokes this week, is thrilled to see Hull in action.
“He’s obviously got some serious limitations,” Pope said, casually joking about the arrogant paceman.
“He’s also pretty big, which is handy as a bowler. If you’re 6’7” and can get the ball down and get it up to 85-90 mph with a little bit of swing and a little bit of left arm angle, there’s a lot to like.
“It’s a good week for him to come in, learn a little bit and show exactly what he can do.”
England have made it clear that the old idea of ’pulling the next cab up the pecking order’ – finding the most consistent performer from the county averages – is no longer viable and Hull’s modest statistics have not been used against him.
Instead, England are looking at players with the physical ability to cause problems at the highest level and with a different profile to those already in the system.
“We’ve had four right-arm seamers in the first two games, so it’s a little bit different for the opposing batsmen to think about,” Pope said.
“That’s the difference and he has good speed when he clicks into the net.
“Sometimes the numbers speak for themselves, but obviously with some of the players there’s a bigger picture. There’s a little bit more to the numbers and I think it’s a credit to the way the players have done it, the audacity of Brendan and Ben to put these players in the team at such a young age.
“Why don’t you bring him? This is a great opportunity for him. He can show exactly what he can do on the international stage.”
McCollum has overseen England’s red-ball team for the past two years but will take on a wider role after agreeing to oversee all formats from early next year.
Matthew Mott was sacked as limited-overs coach after England’s disappointing performances in two World Cups saw them lose the T20 and 50-over titles, and the role has now been reunited under McCullum.
Asked whether splitting time between two setups would dampen interest on the testing side, Pope insisted there was nothing to fear.
“I would be very surprised if he gave that impression,” he said.
“He’s definitely going to be on the road a little bit more with the busy winter coming up, but I think as a person, whenever you’re with him, he’s 100 percent there with you. I’m sure that won’t affect him at all.
“We’ve seen the impact he’s had on the Test team, on individuals and on the team as a whole and I think he can apply that to the white ball as well. He’s a real optimist and I think that’s really good in cricket.”
