Olly Stone will not play in England’s Test matches against India and Zimbabwe this summer due to a 14-week recovery period following surgery for a right knee injury.
Although he was chosen for the winter Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand, Olly Stone did not play in either series despite taking seven wickets in two home Test matches against Sri Lanka last year.
Last month, while Nottinghamshire was on their preseason tour in Abu Dhabi, he began to feel more and more pain in his right knee. He will now start his recovery, carefully collaborating with the medical professionals at the ECB and Nottinghamshire, after additional scans this week indicated the necessity for surgery.
He will therefore miss the six Test matches this summer, starting on May 22 with Zimbabwe’s one-off match at Trent Bridge, his home field, and the five Test matches against India. However, by August, when he is scheduled to play for London Spirit in the Men’s Hundred, he hopes to be fully recovered.
Olly Stone comeback to the Test team last summer marked his first appearance at that level after three injury-plagued years, so this is just another terrible setback.
He made his Lord’s debut against Ireland in 2019, but he only played in two Test matches against New Zealand and India in 2021 and earned 11 white-ball caps after suffering back stress fractures in each of the following three summers.
When he came home from Pakistan for his wedding this winter, which was planned well in advance of his return to the England setup, he lost the opportunity to solidify his spot in the Test squad.
As the English season gets underway, his injury puts more strain on England’s pace stocks. While Wood’s Durham teammate Brydon Carse is dealing with a chronic toe problem, Mark Wood has already been sidelined for four months following knee surgery. The captain of England, Ben Stokes, is also recovering from hamstring surgery and is vying to play in the Zimbabwe Test.
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