England fast-bowler Olly Stone will return home from the tour of West Indies after being diagnosed with a stress fracture of the lower back. A replacement will be named in due course.
Uncapped Stone was not selected for the first two-day warm-up match against a President’s XI at the Three W’s Oval in Barbados because of the complaint, but it was hopeful that he could be included in the second practice match beginning on Thursday. However, in a worrying sign, the issue did not settle down and England opted to send Stone for a scan which identified the stress fracture.
Although the 25-year-old was selected for the tour to provide captain Joe Root with an express pace option – he is one of the quickest bowlers in England – it was unlikely that Stone would have made England’s final XI for the first Test at Kensington Oval next week with Sam Curran in pole position to partner James Anderson and Stuart Broad.
It is another injury setback for the Warwickshire man after he had finally put a run of games together for his county last season following a serious knee injury which ruled him out of most of 2017. Stone averaged 12 with the ball in Championship cricket last year, a return which got him noticed by England and led to his call-up for the Sri Lanka tour before Christmas on which he made his ODI debut.
England are likely to want to pick another bowler with genuine pace to replace Stone to complement a squad that already has enough fast-medium bowlers. Mark Wood, who last played for England in Test cricket last summer against Pakistan, is one option while Somerset’s uncapped quick Jamie Overton is another candidate.
