Olly Stone will spend the next fortnight at Middlesex, a move designed to put some fresh red-ball overs in his legs and, just maybe, keep the Ashes conversation bubbling.
The England quick, 31 next month, has barely bowled with a red ball since knee surgery in April. That operation wiped out his home Test summer and left his central contract – which ends this month – hanging in the balance. Even so, 17 Test wickets at 23.52 remain on his CV, and England have not forgotten his ability to hit 90-plus mph.
For the moment, Stone’s focus is the County Championship, not Australia. He will face Derbyshire at Lord’s on Monday, the first of two Division Two fixtures Middlesex have pencilled him in for. The deal is a straight loan from Nottinghamshire, his parent club.
There is logic on all sides. Notts have seam depth for the run-in, while Middlesex’s resources are stretched after a long campaign. England, meanwhile, are monitoring every fast bowler with a valid passport after Jamie Overton pressed pause on red-ball cricket and Sonny Baker had a tough ODI debut. Matthew Potts has already been withdrawn from the T20s in Ireland to chase wickets for Durham.
“This is a great opportunity for Olly to get some competitive overs under his belt with the red ball for the first time since the back end of last summer,” Peter Moores, Nottinghamshire’s coach, said. “A fit and firing Olly Stone is an asset for any side, and we’re sure he’ll be well served by this short spell at Middlesex. We’re fortunate to have a number of seam bowlers to choose from for our next couple of games, and we want to make sure Olly has the best possible chance to get some miles back in the legs after some impressive spells in white-ball cricket so far this summer.”
Middlesex’s director of cricket, Alan Coleman, sounded equally upbeat. “As we reach the end of the season, the rigours of the season inevitably take their toll on the fast-bowling unit, so to be able to bring someone in of Olly’s proven international quality to freshen things up ahead of the County Championship run-in is a huge bonus for us. He will add not only quality, but vast amounts of experience too at the highest level, which the younger players in our group can really benefit from as we look to finish the season strong. We are really looking forward to welcoming Olly to the club and are excited to see what he will bring over the next fortnight.”
Stone has already tuned up in six white-ball outings – four for Notts in the Blast and two for London Spirit in the Hundred – and reports suggest his pace is intact. Whether two Championship matches are enough to convince the selectors is another matter, but they certainly won’t harm his case.
For now, Stone simply needs to bowl, stay upright and remind people what a full-throttle fast bowler can do. If he does that, the Ashes plane is not completely out of reach.
