Look into my eyes: You can get to the Ashes...

How hypnotherapy helps get the best out of England paceman Stone

AS a Warwickshire fast bowler Olly Stone has a lot to live up to and he has taken a leaf out of the great Bob Willis’s book in forging his own international career.

Like the late Willis, the newest England paceman out of Edgbaston has turned to hypnotherapy to prepare him for matches and believes the benefits could be recognised in an impressive second Test appearance of his career in Chennai over the winter.

Stone ,27, emerged from a catalogue of injuries to claim match figures of four for 68 in the second match of the series defeat by India, impressing with his sustained hostility in unhelpful conditions.

‘With my battles with injury, I’ve worked quite hard on the mental side of the game, just in terms of being able to relax. I’ve always enjoyed playing but you work so hard to get fit and then when you get out t here and stuff doesn’t go your way you can feel in a negative ve state,’ said Stone.

‘ Also, t here are times on the field when the beans are going and you get in the battle as a fast bowler, then you lose that concentration andd don’t stick to what has as worked for you in the past. So being able to o go out on the pitch and treat an international as any other game rather than big it up is important.’

Stone began working with therapist Peter Marshall last year and continued weekly chats via Zoom throughout England’s bubble life in Southampton and the winter tours in Asia.

‘I have sessions in which I just chill out for a half-hour and others which are more cricket-focused, in which we go through a script of scenarios around how it feels when you bowl your best ball. So when you arrive at the top of your mark for the first time, it doesn’t feel like it’s the start of your spell but your third or fourth over,’ he said.

‘I feel it’s something that’s helped a lot so it would be stupid to throw it away now just because I have had a winter of consistent cricket. It would be wrong for me to think that I’ve nailed everything.’

Stone also credits a couple of technical changes made by his county b bowling coach and Engla England’s winter locum, Gra Graeme Welch, f or im improvement. A regular training drill din which he releases t he ball from within two sets of seven- foot poles p discourages the th collapse of his ac action in delivery, whi while they have also counte countered a tendency to lean back and put pressure on his spine. A by-product of the work to streamline and keep him upright has been improved seam position.

It has contributed to a genuine excitement for the 2021 domestic season, which begins a week behind his Warwickshire colleagues. These days, due to his ECB bowling contract, Stone’s schedule is dictated centrally and so he will make his season debut against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on April 15, playing four of the six County Championship matches before t he first Test of the summer against New Zealand.

With Chris Woakes and Sam Curran out of the equation for Lord’ s on June 2 due to Indian Premier League commitments and uncertainty over Jofra Archer’s availability, Stone should be in the mix.

‘Selfishly it’s better for me that they’re away because it’s less competition but I also feel that, if I can put some performances together, even if they did happen to be around I could warrant my place in the side,’ said Stone.

‘I told myself that playing a Test over the winter was a tick in the box but after performing like I did it was frustrating not to play one of the following two Tests. It’s made me even more determined to get back in the England side.’

The last few months have provided confidence that his name can feature among the outand-out quicks England take Down Under.

When stuff doesn’t go your way you can feel in a negative state