Olly Stone out for season after recurrence of back stress fracture

England fast bowler Olly Stone has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering a recurrence of the back stress fracture he picked up in the Caribbean earlier this year.

Stone made an encouraging Test debut against Ireland last month, taking 3 for 29 with swing and pace touching 90mph. However, his county Warwickshire announced last week that he had experienced "inflammation", initially putting him out of action for two weeks, before a scan revealed the full extent of the injury.

"Olly had such a fantastic season in 2018 and looked set to play an important role for England as well as ourselves this summer after making his Test debut just two weeks ago," Warwickshire's director of sport, Paul Farbrace, said. "We're obviously gutted to lose him just over a month after returning to senior cricket.

"Being able to bowl consistently at speeds in excess of 90mph places huge demands on the body and, with Olly's season having ended prematurely, he will now work our medical and strength and conditioning teams to get stronger and fitter than ever."

Stone has featured in four ODIs and one Test for England since being first capped on the tour of Sri Lanka last winter. His extra pace had been highlighted recently as an important factor for England, but he has now joined Mark Wood, one of the other bowlers singled out by by Trevor Bayliss, on the treatment table.