England fast bowler to leave Pakistan tour for his wedding

Stone, 30, is set to leave for England on Wednesday (October 9), which happens to be the third day of the ongoing first Test between England and Pakistan in Multan. His wedding, which was planned long before he was picked for the side, is scheduled on Saturday (October 12), making his availability for the second Test, which starts on Tuesday (October 15), highly improbable.

Stone is one of the five frontline fast bowlers in the squad, along with Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson, and Matthew Potts, but didn't make the XI for the first Test, with Woakes, Carse, and Atkinson getting the nod.

Talking to the BBC, Stone said that his partner was ready to reschedule their wedding, but it was him who insisted on making it work as initially planned. "We booked the wedding on the basis of me only playing for Notts at the time," Stone told the BBC.

"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 the least I could do was to try and make it work."

Stone does not hold a central contract and was recently recalled to the Test side during the home series against Sri Lanka, where he played two matches and took seven wickets. Overall, Stone has 17 wickets from five Test matches at 23.52 and has also played ten ODIs (nine wickets) and a T20I (no wickets).

Joe Root wished the right-arm quick well. "It's a special time in anyone's life," he said. "I'm really excited for him. I'm sure he is all over the place with everything that's going on, but it'll be very special for him - and his wife - starting a different chapter in his life. We'll all be raising a cold water to him at some point, celebrating."

Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.