Left-arm pacer Josh Hull will be handed his test debut in the 3rd Test against Sri Lanka starting on Friday at The Oval. The Leicestershire quick’s selection for the white-ball series against Australia in both shorter forms is evidence of his impressive rise in the domestic circuit over the past 12 months. Following Matthew Potts’ outstanding performance in the series’ opening two Test matches, Hull will rotate in to take his spot.

Despite taking just five wickets in four innings, Potts’s ability to disrupt important partnerships and limit scoring has been essential to England’s victories. With Hull joining, the attack, which already has Olly Stone and Gus Atkinson as enforcers, will have even more firepower, making it maybe the most aggressive pace attack for England in terms of intimidation and pace. Chris Woakes, with his flawless accuracy, remains at the front of the group.

With Hull in the starting lineup, England will have a left-arm pacer, something they haven’t had since Sam Curran was dropped from the team. Despite his mediocre stats from his nine First-class appearances thus far, selectors in England have chosen to fast-track Hull because of his towering 6’7″ frame and ability to generate unnerving bounce. Ollie Pope, the team’s acting captain, reiterated these ideas and predicted that the team’s most recent recruit would be crucial to the outcome of the Test match.

“With the height, you can draw in some more edges with that extra bounce,” said Pope at the press conference. “It makes it a lot harder to drive the ball, especially if there is a little bit of bounce at The Oval – which there can be, especially early in the game.

“And then the angle… We’ve played four right-arm seamers for the first two games, so it’s just something different for the batters to think about in the opposition, with the ball coming into the right-hander, and obviously away from the left-hander, with that swing. It’s a point of difference, and he’s got some good pace as well when he’s clicking in the nets.”

England XI for the 3rd Test: Dan Lawrence, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope(c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith(wk), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Olly Stone, Josh Hull, Shoaib Bashir

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