England pacer Olly Stone has been ruled out of action until July with a knee injury and will be missing England’s test matches against Zimbabwe and India this summer.
Olly Stone claimed seven wickets in two home tests against Sri Lanka last year and was named in the squad for Pakistan and New Zealand.
Despite being named in the test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand, Stone did not play in either series despite taking seven wickets in two home test matches against Sri Lanka last year.
Nottinghamshire was on their preseason tour in AbuDhabi, he began to feel more and more pain in his right knee.
“Stone experienced increasing discomfort during Nottinghamshire’s pre-season tour of Abu Dhabi last month. Further scans conducted this week revealed the need for surgery.
“He will now begin a period of rehabilitation, working closely with the medical teams at both the ECB and Nottinghamshire.
“As a result, Stone will miss the start of the English summer but is targeting a return to full fitness by August 2025.” ECB said in a statement.
He will be targetting a return to full fitness by August, when he is due to feature for London Spirit in the Men’s Hundred.
It is cruel setback for Stone, whose return test team last summer was his first appearance at that level for three injury plagued years. He made his debut against Ireland at Lord’s in 2019, but suffered back stress fractures in each of the next three summers, limiting his involvement to a pair of tests against New Zealand and India in 2021 and 11 White-ball appearance.
His injury increases the pressure on England’s pacer unit with Mark Wood has already been ruled out of the four months after also undergoing knee surgery. Meanwhile Brydon Carse is struggling with long term toe injury, while England captain Ben Stokes is also on his rehabilitation from hamstring injury and is racing against time to be fit for Zimbabwe test.
