Olly Stone hopes to exceed 90mph for England against Sri Lanka at Lord’s after winning a recall three years after his last Test.
The right thigh injury to Mark Wood opened up a berth in the team for Stone. The Nottinghamshire quick bowler has only played three Tests so far for England but has performed admirably, taking 10 wickets at 19.4.
Stone has previously been timed at 93.8mph and has been picked as a like-for-like replacement for Wood for the second Test. While he does not expect to get to Wood’s pace – the Durham bowler has been timed at 97mph this summer – Stone plans to be “aggressive” on his return to the Test side.
“I will try and bowl as quickly as I’ve got in the locker, some days it clicks better than others,” Stone said. “In and around 90mph would be nice. It’s something I’ve always had in my armoury to hopefully go out and provide that bit of extra pace so hopefully I can go out and do that this week.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get to 97, that’s a bit freakish isn’t it? It’s just going out there and being me. What I’ve done this summer to get me to this position, not to go away from that and if my speeds are up there then great.
“I’ll give it a go but it’s been pretty frightening the way he [Wood] has been bowling. It’s obviously disappointing for him to miss out, the way he’s come in and bowled this summer is very exciting. Hopefully, I can go out there and try and touch his speeds. He’s obviously up there with the fastest in the world so I’m not sure if I’ll match it but I’ll give it a good shot.”
England’s focus upon developing a bowling attack with pace and variety led to Stone being selected despite only taking 11 wickets at 52.63 in six first-class games this summer. Similar thinking led to 6ft 7in left-arm quick Josh Hull being preferred to Essex’s Sam Cook as the reserve bowler in the squad.
While Hull averages 62.8 in first-class cricket, Cook has taken 295 wickets at 19.5 apiece. National selector Luke Wright made clear that his lack of speed was considered a barrier to him replacing Wood.
“Sam has been very aware of how we’re looking to balance our pace attack,” Wright said. “I feel for Sam, he’s an incredible bowler and you’re never that far away. If it had maybe been Woakesy or a different one then it might bring him into it more.
“Once we lost Woody, we wanted to try and keep pace and variety in the attack. Obviously that’s where having a big 6ft 7in left-armer that we could bring in is useful. That’s why he got the nod ahead of him.”
Stone never entertained thoughts of becoming a T20 specialist, despite his career being marred by injury. He has has had four operations, with the most severe on his back in 2021.
“If I didn’t want to play Test cricket, you could probably try to not have the surgery and see how it goes playing white ball,” he explained. “But I’ve always wanted to play Test cricket.
“It’s something that white-ball cricket can’t give you. I just love the slog of that hard graft, going out there and providing your team with something different to help you try and win the game. I’ve always said that one of the reasons I went down certain surgical routes to have my back sorted was so that I could go out and play Test cricket again.
“It’s never been in my mind to give that up. If my body then gave up on me, maybe I’d have to step away but thankfully so far I’ve found a way and I can be back out there in an England shirt.”
During his lay-off, Stone said that he was sustained by memories of his England appearances. Together with his three Tests, he has also played eight one-day international and one Twenty20 international. Aged 30, he is now targeting a sustained period of being injury-free.
“I feel as good as ever and ready to keep going for a few more years,” he said.
“Even though it’s only been a limited number of times I’ve been in England, those times of being out there and being back involved with your mates, that spurs you on. There is dark times and you think, ‘oh, here we go, not another rehab session’. But I’ve got one of the best jobs in the world.
“It’s tough when you’ve been in squads and you withdraw through injury. It’s a tough time to watch because you can’t do the thing you love. I’ll always support England cricket and watch it regardless. It’s great seeing your mates go out there and doing well. It can be tricky when you’re injured to watch because you can’t do what you want to do.”
The two screws in his back are “in there for as long as I am,” Stone joked. Now, he said with a smile, he is feeling “good as gold”.
England team: Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, ⁠Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, ⁠Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), ⁠Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, ⁠Matthew Potts, ⁠Olly Stone, ⁠Shoaib Bashir.
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