For the Winter 2024 edition of Nottinghamshire CCC's official magazine, Covered, Olly Stone spoke of how a change in mindset had powered him back into England contention, and shared his thoughts on the environment and culture at Trent Bridge.
Read an extract from the interview below.
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Elbows bent, fists clenched, knees pumping. A visceral roar is released.
It is a celebration beaten for aggression only by the deliveries which preceded it – and for Olly Stone there is ample justification for the enthusiasm.
The wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne in June marked a full circle moment for Notts’ prodigious seamer – a three- year hiatus from England’s Test team ended with a wicket on his return.
That the Sri Lankan opener played a role in his own demise – chopping a delivery wide of off stump onto his own stumps – mattered little. For Stone, it was vindication for all the hours of work that had got him back to performing on the international stage.
It had been a shift in attitude which began with that journey – a focus on enjoying wherever he is playing, and whoever he is playing for, a mindset cultivated by time spent out of the game.
Just over two years prior, Stone’s move to Trent Bridge was confirmed. He played two First-Class matches for Notts in the 2023 season after battling back from injury, then bowled three balls against his old side Birmingham Bears in the Vitality Blast before pulling up, feeling his hamstring.
“That was tough,” he says, reflecting on what transpired to be a season-ending injury. “I said to the medical staff, ‘I will come back in when I am ready. I am going to have to take a few days to process this, just let me go away and I will come back when I want to do something’.
“I needed to just not see anyone around cricket – because they care, when you come in everyone asks how you are but, in reality, the answer was pretty horrible.
“I think I took five or six days before I had come to terms with it.”
Stone was no stranger to setbacks. Stress fractures in his back ultimately led to surgery on his spine in 2021, with two screws inserted.
The failure to string games together had meant a struggle to justify international selection – in turn leading to despondency. That meant when he returned to action with Notts in 2024, his focus was fully on enjoying being out on the park – whatever followed would be an added bonus.
“In the past I’ve always looked at what games are coming up and my potential involvement, then something has happened and I’ve been really disappointed,” Stone admits.
“So I tried not to put too much pressure on things or look too far ahead this year. It is amazing, when you think negatively things seem to happen – you feel sore or get injured. When I think positively, I can bowl 20 overs without feeling like I am about to snap.
“That feeling of just turning up and getting on with it rather than having to worry about anything else is amazing – this is the most I’ve enjoyed cricket since probably 2018.”
The environment of Trent Bridge has aided that enjoyment. After coming through the ranks at Northamptonshire, Warwickshire – where Stone spent six years from 2017 – propelled him to England recognition with his first One Day International call-up a year after he joined the Bears.
He earned his maiden Test call-up for England’s one-off Test against Ireland in 2019, then appeared again for games in India and against New Zealand at his home ground, Edgbaston, in 2021.
Two years later, he said goodbye to the county which saw him grow from boy to man. By his own admission, that switch to Nottinghamshire was a challenge at the time, but a move he is now able to reflect upon fondly.
“I didn’t necessarily want to leave Warwickshire when I did,” Stone says, “but with hindsight it is the best thing that could have happened.
“The way Moorsey and Mick were with me when I first joined, trying to do everything that they could to help me settle in – not just for me but for [then girlfriend, now wife] Jess too.
“There was never a point when I didn’t feel part of it. There are lots of little things that make Notts a family club and sometimes people don’t realise how good it is here until they go elsewhere or dip into another environment.
“The quality of coaches, and access to them, is a big thing – this year I wanted to improve my batting, and I have got two or three coaches that I could lean on to help me do that.”
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