England have been warned to treat Olly Stone “like a Ferrari” and not stick too many miles on the clock after Warwickshire’s fast but fragile seamer – among the quickest on the county circuit – was called up for the one-day tour of Sri Lanka.
Stone gets his chance with Liam Plunkett, a 50-over regular, permitted to miss the first fortnight of the five-match series next month because of a clash with his wedding. It comes at the end of a season in which, when fit, Stone has ripped through Division Two lineups, claiming 34 wickets at 11 apiece from six matches.
Both Sam and Tom Curran are also included – the former following a breakthrough summer in Test cricket and as straight replacement for his fellow left-armer David Willey, after a back injury – as is the fit-again Mark Wood. There is also a recall for Liam Dawson as the third spinner for what are expected to be turning pitches. Ben Stokes and Alex Hales are included, despite the pair facing a disciplinary hearing in early December.
Stone, 24, remains the most eye-catching pick for a series that begins in Dambulla on 10 October and though his List A record is modest the national selector, Ed Smith, has looked beyond the numbers and instead focused on attributes that include an ability to hit speeds in the mid-90s from a 6ft 3in frame.
His fitness record is patchy and relates to a courageous comeback a serious knee injury in 2016 when, at his previous club, Northamptonshire, Stone snapped his anterior cruciate ligament while jumping to celebrate the wicket of Moeen Ali in a Twenty20, before an attempt to bowl another ball led to a torn cartilage.
The right-armer may have since switched to greeting wickets with a fist pump but it is no surprise that Ashley Giles, the sporting director at Warwickshire who signed him that winter when he was still on crutches, hopes England do not go pedal to the metal with the newest fast bowler to pull into their driveway.
“They’ve timed it right but they still need to manage him really carefully,” he said. “You have to manage him with kid gloves. If you’re expecting Olly to play every day and be at it, he’ll break down. He’s a Ferrari.”
“With many bowlers – your BMWs or your Audis – you just get in and go but if you have someone who bowls at pace and has had his history of injury you have to treat them very carefully.”
Eoin Morgan’s side have 17 one-day internationals remaining before South Africa at the Oval on 30 May marks the start of next summer’s World Cup at home and having risen to No 1 during a startling renaissance over the past three years, the captain and his head coach, Trevor Bayliss, are keen to keep a relatively settled squad.
The clash with Plunkett’s impending nuptials – caused by a switch around in the one-day and Test legs of the tour after a date was booked in – does offers Stone a chance to make a late play for the main event, however, and though Sri Lankan pitches may not appear a natural fit, his skiddy trajectory could still prosper.
Giles added: “I think Olly should be very excited. He thought he might not play cricket at all a year ago and now he has a chance of playing in a World Cup. He gets it coming back in and I think that’s a difficult angle for batters.”
With Stone’s county teammate Chris Woakes ready to the lead the attack once more, having missed the entire white-ball summer through injury, Wood fit again, both Curran brothers selected and Plunkett available for the fourth and fifth matches, cracking the XI will be tricky, not least since conditions may dictate Dawson plays.
The Test squad is expected to be announced on Friday.
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Tom Curran (Surrey), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Ben Stokes (Durham), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham)
Schedule:
One-Day Warm-Up, SLC XI v England, Friday 5 October, P Sara, Colombo
One-Day Warm-Up, SLC XI v England, Saturday 6 October, P Sara, Colombo
1st ODI (D/N), Sri Lanka v England, Wednesday 10 October 10, RDICS, Dambulla
2nd ODI, Sri Lanka v England, Saturday 13 October, RDICS, Dambulla
3rd ODI (D/N), Sri Lanka v England, Wednesday 17 October, PKICS, Kandy
4th ODI, Sri Lanka v England, Saturday 20 October, PKICS, Kandy
5th ODI (D/N), Sri Lanka v England, Tuesday 23 October, RPICS, Colombo
