England suffer major setback ahead of Pakistan Tests

Leicestershire pacer Josh Hull has been ruled out of the England squad for the three-match away Test series against Pakistan, scheduled to commence on October 7.

According to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), Hull suffered a quad injury, which would keep him out of the Pakistan tour.

“Josh Hull has been ruled out of our Test tour of Pakistan due to a quad injury,” said ECB in a brief statement on social media.

The 20-year-old pacer made his Test debut for England earlier this month in the third Test of the three-match series against Sri Lanka.

The towering 6ft 7in tall pacer picked up three wickets in the aforementioned Test before getting ruled out of the ongoing white-ball series against Australia.

Notably, England have decided not to call for a replacement.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

Hull was one of the six pacers named in England’s 17-member squad for the Pakistan tour but now joins injured Mark Wood and Josh Tongue on the sideline.

Josh Hull’s injury further complicates England’s pace attack as their captain Ben Stokes, despite being “on track” to participate in the series, is doubtful to bowl.

“I think that’s you getting ahead of yourself. Obviously I’ve been six-and-a-half weeks now of just walking and doing stuff in the gym,” said Stokes in response to a question regarding the chances of him bowling in the Pakistan Tests.

“There’s a lot more than just my hamstring that I need to get back firing and working up again in terms of bowling, because you use everything, so I need to get that all right to make sure I don’t do any damage to other parts of my body,” he added.

England squad for Pakistan Test series: Ben Stokes (C), Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Jordan Cox, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

READ: Kamindu Mendis equals Babar Azam’s Test record, goes past Saud Shakeel