London, Apr 4: England pacer Olly Stone has been ruled out of all cricket for 14 weeks after undergoing a right knee

surgery this week, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Friday. "Stone experienced increasing discomfort during Nottinghamshire’s pre-season tour of Abu Dhabi last month. Further
scans conducted this week revealed the need for surgery," the ECB statement read. "He will now begin a period of rehabilitation, working closely with the medical teams at both the ECB and

Nottinghamshire," it added. The 31-year-old will miss the start of the English summer but is targeting a return to full

fitness by August 2025. Stone last played for England during the home ODI series against Australia last year after playing two Tests against

Sri Lanka. Stone is facing tough competition from the likes of Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson, and the fit-again duo of Mark Wood

and Jofra Archer as he looks to secure a spot in head coach Brendon McCullum's plans, with the Ashes series in

Australia just seven months away. Although Stone has taken 17 wickets in five Test appearances, he has only faced Australia in 50-over cricket, with his

best performance being 4-85 in Melbourne in November 2022. The pacer’s last competitive appearance was for Dubai Capitals in the International League T20 in Sharjah earlier

this year, a stint he took on to prepare for his return to red-ball cricket with Nottinghamshire in April. "With the physical demands of international cricket, there are some people that are freak enough to be able to play

all those games, but we know as a unit that we're going to have to rotate," Stone had told BBC in January. "And the fresher people can be, the more chance there is for England to win games - they've always said that if

there's a crop of us fast bowlers fit and firing and ready to go to the Ashes down under, especially, it will give us the

best chance of hopefully bringing the Ashes home," he added. England will begin their home summer with a one-off Test against Zimbabwe in Nottingham from May 22 before

hosting the West Indies for a six-match white-ball series. Their ultimate challenge will come against India in the

five-Test home series starting from June 20 in Leeds. (IANS)

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