England call up uncapped pacer to replace Wood for Sri Lanka series

Pacer Mark Wood suffered a right thigh muscle strain while bowling in the second innings of the first Test against Sri Lanka in Manchester.

Wood had an exceptional start to his spell in the second innings, getting the wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne off his first ball, but pulled out of his run-up in the 56th over, and left the field. He didn’t bowl again in the game which England eventually won by five wickets.

The injury has now ruled him out of the series, with Leicestershire’s Josh Hull being called up as a replacement. Hull is a left-arm seamer, who recently featured in the England Lions fixture against Sri Lanka, and picked five wickets at an average of 14.8.

Hull, who stands at 6’ 7’’, has been a pivotal figure in Leicestershire bowling attack in recent times, playing a crucial role in their 2023 domestic One-Day Cup victory.

England squad: Ollie Pope (Captain), Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Ben Duckett, Josh Hull, Dan Lawrence, Matthew Potts, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Olly Stone, Chris Woakes.

England are already without their regular Test skipper Ben Stokes and opener Zak Crawley in the series.

The second Test starts on 29 August in London.