The England Test bowler, Olly Stone, is set to leave the Pakistan trip midway as he is set to fly out of the country on October 09 (Wednesday) ahead of his wedding this weekend and is likely to miss the second Test of the series, which starts on Tuesday, also at the Multan Cricket Stadium.
Olly Stone showed his impressive touch, picking up seven wickets in the two Test matches against Sri Lanka at the end of the English summer, after he came in contention of being selected in the team as the injury replacement of Mark Wood.
It was already planned that the bowler would be missing a few days from the trip, but because the Ollie Pope-led side handed over a debut cap to Brydon Carse for the opening game of the series, the Norwich-born could go back home earlier than his planned date.
Olly Stone to miss 2nd Multan Test due to wedding ceremony
The England Cricket Board (ECB) is yet to confirm the return date of the pacer, but it may depend on the status of the other fast bowlers in the country after the first Test match. A very tight turnaround for the second game means it would be hard for him to return.
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In the absence of Ben Stoke, the Three Lions went with their pacers for the first Multan Test in the form of Carse, Gus Atkinson, and Chris Woakes, while Matthew Potts is the other fast bowler in the squad.
England, however, is understandably happy for Olly Stone to leave the country, given he was not included in the last batch of the central contracted players, and his wedding was arranged way before he was recalled in the red-ball format. The director of their cricket, Rob Key, and all-format head coach, Brendon McCullum, also agreed that he should head home to get married.
“We booked the wedding based on me only playing for Notts at the time.” The 31-year-old recently said to the BBC in a recent interaction. “Jess said she was happy to move the wedding, and I was adamant about keeping it where it was if possible. For what she has given up and sacrificed for me, I thought the least I could do was to try and make it work.”
In five Test matches, he has picked up 17 wickets in five games at an average of under 24 and a strike rate of nearly six overs, with a best bowling figure of 3/29 in an innings. With the bat, he has delivered whenever it has mattered the most.
It hasn’t been the first time when an England bowler has engaged in a meeting of weeding and a Test match. The seamer Tony Pigott postponed his wedding at very short notice to play what proved to be his only Test match during the 1984 tour to New Zealand.
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The former England captain has understood the situation of Olly Stone in a better state, as he mentioned how he and his wife Carried had rearranged their wedding three times because of different tours.
“It’s a special time in anyone’s life. I’m excited for him. I’m sure he is all over the place with everything that’s going on.” The Yorkshire-batter said besides giving his best wishes to his teammate Olly Stone. “But, it’ll be very special for him – and his wife – starting a different chapter in his life. We’ll all be raising cold water to him at some point, celebrating.”