England's Olly Stone set to leave Pakistan tour for wedding
England seamer Olly Stone is all set to leave the ongoing tour of Pakistan, to get married this weekend. His early departure has been made possible as he was not selected for the 1st Test in Multan, which started on Monday. This way Stone gets to return home earlier than scheduled, ahead of his wedding. However, his return date remains uncertain and will depend on the performance and condition of England's other pacers after the series opener.
Stone's wedding plans predate his England recall
Notably, Stone's wedding plans were in place long before his surprise recall to the England squad. He was excluded from the central-contract list and his wedding was planned at a time when he was only representing Northamptonshire. Ahead of the tour, Stone had spoken to England's managing director Rob Key and coach Brendon McCullum, who agreed he should return home for his wedding.
Stone's commitment to keeping wedding date unchanged
In a recent interview with the BBC, Stone revealed his determination to keep the wedding date unchanged. "We booked the wedding on the basis of me only playing for Notts at the time," he said. "Jess said she was happy to move the wedding and I was adamant on keeping it where it was if possible. For what she has given up and sacrificed for me, I thought least I could do was to try and make it work."
Woakes leads England's pace attack
England entered the 1st Test against Pakistan underway in Multan with three pacers - Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, and Brydon Carse. Meanwhile, Shoaib Bashir and Jack Leach are the two specialist spinners.
