Darren Gough: Inclusion of Olly Stone for Sri Lanka tour is smart call

Darren Gough in appealing mode for England while on tour.

David Willey is out through injury and was not available for selection. Liam Plunkett is also not available for the first three games as he is getting married.

Organising a wedding around England tours when he only plays white-ball cricket is something I find absolutely hilarious. Couldn’t he find any other time to get married? He does not play in Test matches.

I have got to say that the selection of Olly Stone for both the ODI and the Test squads is a great pick for me. I have been calling for him for a while. I first saw him when he was 15-years-old, playing for Northants’ under-15s against Buckinghamshire under-15s and he was very quick.

MAIN MAN: Surrey's Morne Morkel has been a leading force for the Division One County Champions this year. Picture: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com

He did pick up injuries then and was a bit raw. But for me, he is the type of bowler who will be suited for Sri Lanka.

We seem to have an obsession for picking tall, lanky, hit-the-middle-of-the-pitch bowlers and it has been a mistake for me.

I was asked to compile a report on what I thought about Sri Lankan conditions as a bowler. I said that if I had success and the likes of Craig White had decent success there, we could be viewed as bowlers who were skiddy and ones who pitched it up and hit the stumps.

We were bowlers who bowled at the stumps and picked up bowled and lbw wickets. That, for me, is how you get your wickets in Sri Lanka.

Stone is a skiddy type of bowler who is quick and can get up to 90 miles per hour. It is a clever pick, so good luck to him.

Meanwhile, belated congratulations to Surrey for winning the County Championship.

I backed them at the start of the year and just thought they would have too much. Although I am surprised how they have done it with all the youngsters in the side such as Will Jacks, Amar Virdi, Olly Pope and Sam Curran.

But you have got to say that Morne Morkel has been the trump card. He has been unbelievable; the signing of the year.

To get him to come away from South Africa and play county cricket while he was still a top-class Test bowler was an amazing signing. And it has won them the title.