Olly Stone ruled out of entire season with stress fracture
England pacer Olly Stone has been ruled out of the rest of the season after a recurrence of the partial stress fracture to his left lower back. The 25-year-old originally picked up the injury on the tour of the West Indies early this year and subsequently missed the Ashes as well.
After enjoying a stellar 2018 season for Warwickshire picking up 43 wickets from seven County games at an average of 12.20, the 2019 season held a lot of promise. However, lady luck wasn't on his side as a recurrence of the partial stress fracture to his left lower back ruled him out of the Ashes, and now he is set to miss the entire domestic season as well.
The pacer returned to action in early July and was handed his Test debut in the one-off Test against Ireland, where he took three wickets in the first innings of the match. Known for his penchant to bowl over 90mph, he was picked in the Ashes squad but released after not making the XI for the first Test at Edgbaston. However, it soon came to notice that Stone had aggravated his injury in training at Edgbaston - an injury that has subsequently cost him the season - and was ruled out of the Lord's Test.
"Olly had such a fantastic season in 2018 and looked set to play an important role for England as well as ourselves this summer after making his Test debut just two weeks ago. We're obviously gutted to lose him just over a month after returning to senior cricket," said Paul Farbrace, sports director of Warwickshire, reported AFP.
Last year, his three fifers over the course of this run helped Warwickshire top the Division Two standings and thereby clinch promotion to the first division for this year. Stone's absence for the remainder of the season will severely dent Warwickshire's prospects of staying up,who are struggling with two wins from 10 games so far as they sit seventh in the eight-team first division standings.
"Being able to bowl consistently at speeds in excess of 90 mph places huge demands on the body and, with Olly's season having ended prematurely, he will now work our medical and strength and conditioning teams to get stronger and fitter than ever," Farbrace said.
