Next month, the England men’s cricket team is all set to visit Pakistan for a three-match Test series starting from 7th October in Multan. Star all-rounder Ben Stokes will take the captaincy after not taking part in the home series of Sri Lanka against England. As the team was gearing up to travel to Pakistan for the three-match series, on Thursday, September 26, the Poms were dealt a massive blow when it was announced that in-form pacer Josh Hull is out of the series.
The 20-year-old left-handed fast bowler from Leicestershire, England, made his Test debut for the country on September 6 2024, against Sri Lanka at The Oval and took 3 wickets for 53 runs in the very first innings. The 6 foot 7 inch speedster will not be part of the tour to Pakistan as he is suffering from a quad muscle injury.
“Get well soon, Josh. Josh Hull has been ruled out of our Test tour of Pakistan due to a quad injury. #PAKvENG | #EnglandCricket,”ECB tweeted
As per an article published by ESPNCricinfo, during Hull’s first Test match against Sri Lanka, he sustained a walk-off niggle injury which eventually led to him being withdrawn from the white-ball series in Australia. It was thought he would be able to recover in time, but with the problem being extensive, the ECB on Thursday opted to withdraw Hull from the three-Test series.
As of now, England has not named any player to take Hull’s place and will depart for Pakistan on October 1 with a 16-member squad.
In the squad announced by England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) on 10 September, only two uncapped players Durham seamer Brydon Carse and Essex batter Jordan Cox were selected for the overseas series. Somerset spinner Jack Leach who got injured during the series with India earlier this year was back in the squad alongside opener Zak Crawley who missed the Sri Lanka series due to a fracture on his right little finger.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) revealed the lineup for the First Test on Tuesday, September 24, which also featured all-around player Aamer Jamal. The pulsating three-match series against Australia, which Aamer performed in, was the reason why the creative Jamal missed the two-match Test series with Bangladesh last month.
Besides him, fast bowlers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naeem Shah were able to keep their place in the team despite not playing in the second Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi.
