England fast bowler Olly Stone 'hungry' for Test cricket and hopes to play in next summer's Ashes series
Olly Stone looking to add to three Test caps, eager to play in Ashes - "There's nothing better than five days of hard graft and coming off with a win. One of the main reasons why I went down the surgical route with my back was to be able to hopefully withstand that amount of cricket"
Wednesday 23 November 2022 23:49, UK
England fast bowler Olly Stone is "hungry" to return to Test cricket after a litany of injury problems and is hoping to play in The Ashes next summer.
Stone admitted last year that he considered retiring from the longest form after suffering a fourth stress fracture of the back, which resulted in a metal screw being inserted in order to strengthen his spine.
The 29-year-old then broke his finger during the 2022 summer but has since returned to fitness and was part of the England ODI squad beaten 3-0 in Australia this week.
Stone is now targeting facing Australia again in Test whites across June and July and wants to make his red-ball return in New Zealand in February.
He said: "I've spoken to Stokesy [England Test captain Ben Stokes] and just said how I want to still play Test cricket, I've still got that hunger.
"One of the main reasons why I went down the surgical route with my back was to be able to hopefully withstand that amount of cricket and demand on my body.
"There's nothing better than five days of hard graft and coming off with a win. That hunger of playing Test cricket and seeing what happens in The Ashes is something I really want to be a part of.
"After Christmas there's a combination of white-ball cricket and franchise cricket. Hopefully I can keep my loads up and get in a place that I can put my hand up and be selectable for Test cricket.
"Hopefully I can be involved in the New Zealand stuff then go from there. For me now it is about getting a good run of cricket under my belt and seeing what goes from there."
Asked whether he would consider becoming a white-ball-only player in future, Stone said: "If my body fails me this time then I know I've done everything I can and I may have to look down that route unfortunately. Fingers crossed it doesn't come to that."
