England pacer Olly Stone had a sensational start to SA20 as he picked up six wickets in the first two games he played for MI Cape Town.

The right-arm quick has enjoyed his time in the MI Cape Town dressing room and the presence of an experienced coaching staff helped him calm his nerves.

While sharing his experience on MI Cape Town YouTube channel, the English speedster said, “I’ve really enjoyed my journey at MI Cape Town. Obviously, the six wickets to start with have helped settle the nerves. I’ve just loved being part of this team, we’ve got a good bunch of people here and it’s made it easy for me to enjoy my time here.”

The 6 feet-three inches tall pacer – who playing his first league outside of England – said the presence of teammates like Sam Curran and Jofra Archer helped him in the early days but the atmosphere created by MI Cape Town also helped him a lot.

“I think coming into a group where I don’t know many people, (it) was a bit different to me, obviously there were Sam (Curran) and Jofra (Archer) but other people I never really came across. But it was really good to know different people and obviously having different resources in the team at every time was nice. That has definitely been a big force going forward to me here at MI Cape Town,” the right-arm pacer added.

When questioned about his camaraderie with fellow MICT speedsters Kagiso Rabada and Jofra Archer and the discussions the three of them have together, the 29-year-old hoped the association continues for a longer period.

“Bowling with them definitely makes life a bit easier. It’s just little things such as how they go about their slower balls, and how long they hit their length before they change things out. Just different ways of maybe seeing the way how they go about their business and how I can include it in my game and help me develop and also help the team get desired results. So, it’s great rubbing shoulders with them and long may it continue,” Stone claimed.

Stone has had an injury-marred international career, and asked how difficult was it for him to put his body on the line after coming back from injuries, the cricketer claimed the tag of an X-factor with the ball was a great motivator to him.

“It’s just something I love doing. I think bowling fast and being that ‘so-called’ X-factor is a great asset to have. It makes bowling enjoyable. The thought of you being able to run in and not try and hit people in the head but you’ve got that sort of skill in your armoury is great. I’ve had a few injuries but the significant ones are behind me now and I know being a bowler you’re going to pick some niggles here and there but when you go out and take wickets as it happened so far in this tournament, it definitely makes all worth it,”

When asked about any particular skills, he’s looking to master by working under the watchful eyes of MICT bowling coach Jacob Oram, the talented swing bowler said, “For me going forward is to be a bit more consistent with my slower balls. I am looking to master the art of bowling just at that specific time of the game. Hopefully, it will be more successful going forward.”

With 3 wins in 7 games, MICT is placed fourth in the points table and the upcoming three league games are going to be crucial for the side Stone admitted that they haven’t been able to put up an all-round show consistently.

He is, however, confident about his team and said, “We’ve probably haven’t played a full game of cricket where we’ve nailed it perfectly. Hopefully, in the coming games, we’ll be able to put on an all-round performance. We’ve put a lot of courage and character into this side and we are lucky we get along (so) well in such a short space of time and we enjoy each other’s company. If we put that all-round performance, the results will come our way.”

MICT will take on Durban Super Giants in their next league game on February 2 at Kingsmead.