COVERED 2024 Winter

9 JOIN OUR MAILING LIST FOR ALL THE LATEST: TRENTBRIDGE.CO.UK/MAILINGLIST OLLY STONE Olly Stone’s ascent back to the international stage has been years in the making - and, in part, the product of a changed mindset. Here, the fast bowler discusses the role Notts have had to play in his rebirth, and the depths with which he has come to know himself as a player and person since his arrival at Trent Bridge. E lbows bent, fists clenched, knees pumping. A visceral roar is released. It is a celebration beaten for aggression only by the deliveries which preceded it – and for Olly Stone there is ample justification for the enthusiasm. The wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne in June marked a full circle moment for Notts’ prodigious seamer – a three- year hiatus from England’s Test team ended with a wicket on his return. That the Sri Lankan opener played a role in his own demise – chopping a delivery wide of off stump onto his own stumps – mattered little. For Stone, it was vindication for all the hours of work that had got him back to performing on the international stage. It had been a shift in attitude which began with that journey – a focus on enjoying wherever he is playing, and whoever he is playing for, a mindset cultivated by time spent out of the game. Just over two years prior, Stone’s move toTrent Bridge was confirmed. He played two First-Class matches for Notts in the 2023 season after battling back from injury, then bowled three balls against his old side Birmingham Bears in the Vitality Blast before pulling up, feeling his hamstring. “That was tough,” he says, reflecting on what transpired to be a season-ending injury. “I said to the medical staff, ‘I will come back in when I am ready. I am going to have to take a few days to process this, just let me go away and I will come back when I want to do something’. “I needed to just not see anyone around cricket – because they care, when you come in everyone asks how you are but, in reality, the answer was pretty horrible. “I think I took five or six days before I had come to terms with it.” Stone was no stranger to setbacks. Stress fractures in his back ultimately led to surgery on his spine in 2021, with two screws inserted. “I TRIED NOT TO PUT TOO MUCH PRESSURE ON THINGS OR LOOK TOO FAR AHEAD THIS YEAR. WHEN I THINK POSITIVELY, I CAN BOWL 20 OVERS WITHOUT FEELING LIKE I AM ABOUT TO SNAP.” Olly Stone