London, Sep 7 (IANS) Middlesex have announced the signing of England fast bowler Olly Stone on a two-week loan deal from Nottinghamshire, ahead of the final phase of the County Championship season.
Stone, 31, has represented England in all three formats internationally and will be available for Middlesex’s three remaining matches, starting from their Division Two clash against Derbyshire at Lord’s on Tuesday.
The fixture on Tuesday is set to be the Stone’s first game in first-class cricket since recovering from a knee injury sustained before the start of the summer. He has since made four appearances in the T20 Blast for Notts Outlaws and two in The Hundred for London Spirit.
“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,” said Alan Coleman, Middlesex’s Director of Cricket, in a statement.
Stone has played five Tests for England, claiming 17 wickets at an average of 23.52, along with nine wickets coming in white-ball international games. Since making his first-class debut for Northamptonshire in 2011, he has gone on to take 174 wickets in 54 matches, with best figures of 8-80. He’s also turned out for Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire previously.
“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. 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. 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,” said Nottinghamshire Head Coach Peter Moores.
–IANS
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