The Ashes 2019: England’s Olly Stone ruled out of two Tests as injury woes continue

Warwickshire seamer Olly Stone will miss the next two Tests at least after becoming the latest injury casualty of England’s Ashes campaign.

Stone, 25, will spend the next two weeks on the sidelines after suffering an injury to his left lower back during training at Edgbaston on Tuesday.

The uncapped right-armer was included in England’s 14-man squad ahead of the series opener but was not picked for the clash, which England lost by 251 runs.

Stone was firmly in the running to make his debut at Lord’s in the second Ashes Test after veteran seamer James Anderson suffered a recurrence of a calf injury and was only able to bowl four overs in the first Test defeat.

While Anderson has not given up hope of returning later on in the series, his absence opened the door for either Stone, Sam Curran or Jofra Archer to come into the side.

But with Stone out of action, Archer still attempting to prove his fitness by playing for Sussex’s second XI this week and Mark Wood ruled out of the series, the options left to England’s selectors have slimmed dramatically.

“It’s really disappointing for Olly that he’s been ruled out of action for such an important two weeks of cricket because of a reoccurrence of his back injury,” said Paul Farbrace, Sport Director at Warwickshire.

“At the moment there’s a bit of inflammation but he will undergo a scan later this afternoon so that we know the full course of treatment that he can undertake with the club’s medical team and with the support of the ECB.

“In the meantime, he needs to rest up before he can get his body strong again and ready to deal with the demands of being a fast bowler.”

Watch the second Ashes Test between England and Australia live on Sky Sports The Ashes from 10am on Wednesday 14 August.

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