Olly Stone has had a torrid time with injuries throughout his career, with the 29-year-old perhaps the most unfortunate of all of England's genuine quicks in recent years.
While the likes of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood have had both long and repeated injury lay-offs, Stone has made just nine appearances for England since debuting in 2018 against Sri Lanka. He has suffered four stress fractures of the back, which could have ended his career, but Stone has battled back and is once again involved in England's white-ball setup.
Having returned from a stress fracture earlier this summer, Stone featured in ten T20 Blast games for Warwickshire before breaking his finger while fielding a second XI match and needing to undergo surgery. "That was a sickener," he told the Telegraph.
"I was bloody gutted at the time. I thought 'at least it's not my back'. It's never straightforward coming back from injury for me." He returned to action in September, making his T20I debut for England against Pakistan and is currently involved in the ODI series against Australia.
However, Stone views Test cricket as the pinnacle and is desperate to be involved in next year's Ashes series having been included in England's squad for the 2019 series before suffering an injury in training after the first Test.
Although injuries mean he has not played a first-class game since June 2021, and even contemplated retiring from the format last summer, Stone is hoping to be involved in the Test series against New Zealand in February and then impress for his new county Nottinghamshire ahead of the Ashes.
"There is nothing better than coming off after all those days playing a red-ball game knowing you've given your all and come out on the right side of the result," he added. "I love playing Test cricket, it's that thought of hard graft over five days, giving your all and showing what you can do.
"There have been times when you wonder if it's best to give up on that. But I have a hunger for it, and it wouldn't have sat right if I had walked away without at least giving it another shot now.
"If I get to the stage where my body still disagrees after the surgery I know I can walk away content knowing I have given it my all and that maybe my body can't cope. Maybe then I look at a different route. But I still have the hunger for Test cricket and believe there's nothing better. I would just love to help us regain the Ashes."
