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Josh Hull returns for Leicestershire this week, his first outing since that fast-tracked Test debut against Sri Lanka last summer. A winter “beasting” by the England Lions fitness coaches has the giant left-armer feeling stronger, with a more robust base from which to attack a potentially huge year of cricket.
Through no fault of his own, Hull was seen as the embodiment of Bazball braggadocio at the end of last season when thrown into Test cricket after just 10 first-class games as England blew their shot at a perfect summer. It was no disgrace – first-innings figures of three for 53 – but ended with a quad strain that underlined the physicality required.
Speaking before his county comeback on Friday, the 6ft 7in Hull is trying not to think about the visit of India this summer, nor the almighty Ashes tour that follows. Instead it is about putting a winter of training with Andrew Flintoff’s Lions into practice on the pitch, be it the skills developed or the conditioning he was previously short on.
“It was a pretty surreal week,” says Hull, looking back on his Test debut and the stirring speech that Flintoff delivered when presenting him with his England cap. “It all happened so quickly but the environment helped me massively to go out there and express myself. I came away from it having learned a lot, both the mental side of Test cricket but also the physical aspect. It is a lot more draining and has higher demands on the body. But after three Lions trips [since then], I feel in a really good place.
“I have done a lot of strength work. In Australia I knew I was not going to play, it was more about hammering the fitness. It was a bit of a beasting at times but I genuinely loved it and have always been the type to push myself. It was just the starting block really, there is a way to go, but I can definitely feel the benefits from it already.”
England are looking to build a battery of quicks but as well as his height – something that saw him play second-row in rugby growing up – the left-arm angle and the ability to swing the ball late is what sets Hull apart. There is still a fair bit to learn, however, highlighted by the fact that Test debut was the first time he bowled wobble-seam in his career.
“Hmm, not quite,” says Hull, when asked if it was true he learned the delivery that week. “I knew how to do it but had never used it in a match. I was in the nets with [bowling coach] Jimmy Anderson, tried it out and he told me it was great, make sure I use it, and gave me a few extra pointers. So I brought it out in the match.
“Working with Jimmy, it was just gold dust really. I wasn’t even born when he made his Test debut [in 2003] but grew up watching him. The wobble seam gave me an extra something to work with and made my inswinger feel a lot more threatening too. These are the things I want to carry on with to become a much more rounded bowler.”
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Gloucestershire will be the first to face the newly reinforced Hull and a Leicestershire side who are top of Division Two. It has been an eye-catching start to the season for the Foxes, not least the leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed opening the batting and chalking up his second first-class century at Old Trafford last week.
“It feels like we are in a really good place,” says Hull. “It has been building for the past year or so. I’ve kind of just set my focus on that for now, just trying to make sure I’m sort of bowling as well as possible. Anything else will follow naturally from there.”
