England on August 27 announced their playing eleven for the second Test at Lord's London against Sri Lanka scheduled to start on August 29. There is only one forced change in the side as an injured Mark Wood has been replaced by Olly Stone.
30-year-old Stone will make a comeback to the Test side after more than three years. His last Test appearance was against New Zealand in June 2021 where he managed to bag three wickets. Stone who made his Test debut in 2019 against Ireland has played just three Tests. He has 10 wickets to his name in the format.
England's playing XI for 2nd Test -
Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith (wicketkeeper), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Matthew Potts, Olly Stone, Shoaib Bashir
Stone wants to match Wood
Ahead of his Test comeback, Stone lauded Wood who has been troubling batters with blinding speeds. The Norwich-born bowler wishes to touch the speeds that Wood bowls at.
"It's been pretty frightening… the way he's come in and bowled this summer is very exciting," Stone said as quoted by ESPNCricinfo. "Hopefully, I can go out there and try to touch his speeds. He's obviously up there with the fastest in the world so I'm not sure if I'll match it - but I'll give it a good shot."
Stone keeping fit to play Test cricket
Stone had a back surgery in 2021. He is happy with how his body has responded so far. He is a purist and doesn't believe that white-ball cricket can provide what the traditional red-ball cricket does.
"I just love the feeling of coming off after a long four or five days, on the back of a hard-fought win. It's more than just skill at times: it's your character, and the way you are out there as a team for those four or five days. It's something that white-ball cricket can't give you. I just love the slog of that hard graft, going out there and providing your team with something different to help you try to win the game,” He said.
Stone wants to score runs too
Wood has contributed with the bat with his lusty blows to entertain the crowd and frustrate the opposition. Stone has four half-centuries at First-Class level and wishes to make contributions with the bat too.
"If I can go out there and put a few runs on the board and add to a good score you never quite know," Stone said, on the prospect of his securing a long-term place in the XI with his batting. "County cricket and Test cricket can be quite different so that'll test me.
"I guess maybe my motivation at the start of the year was the longer I bat, the less I bowl. Whether that was I put a few shots away maybe initially, and then once I get in, start to, not necessarily play loads of shots, but be a bit more positive."
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