S Poddar
The England and Wales Cricket Board has withdrawn reliable all-rounder Chris Woakes from the final stages of the Hundred to keep a lid on his workload. This comes at a time when England is due to play its Test series against Sri Lanka starting next week.
Woakes was supposed to feature for Birmingham Phoenix in their last two group matches, against Trent Rockets and Manchester Originals, both at home at Edgbaston. However, the Phoenix announced a statement on Monday that he would not be featuring for the rest of the event. This put the fans and experts in a state of shock.
The ECB has confirmed that Woakes’ decision to withdraw is not related to an injury to the hamstring of England Test captain, Ben Stokes, playing for Northern Superchargers. Stokes was forced to retire hurt after picking up the injury on Sunday night’s outing against Manchester Originals. He left the ground on crutches that caused many a worry about his participation in the upcoming series against Sri Lanka.
He is due to have a scan on Tuesday to determine the full extent of the damage, but initial fears are that it will rule him out for at least a significant period. Should Stokes miss out, Woakes is likely to have much more to do as England’s chief all-rounder against Sri Lanka.
The likelihood of Stokes missing the series adds to the mounting casualty list of England. Jordan Cox has been named as England’s reserve batter, with Dan Lawrence set to replace the injured Zak Crawley at the top of the order. Should Stokes turn up unfit, England may well go in for a different composition, pushing up Jamie Smith and Woakes to No. 6 and No. 7 respectively. This could allow another seamer – Matthew Potts or Olly Stone – to come in at No. 8.
It’s worth noting that none of the frontline bowlers who featured for England in their recent Test series against West Indies have played in this year’s The Hundred. Gus Atkinson has been named in the Oval Invincibles squad but hasn’t yet appeared; Shoaib Bashir and Mark Wood haven’t got contracts for the competition. While Bashir has had limited opportunities with Somerset in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, Wood has not featured for Durham, but both are expected to be key figures in the Sri Lanka series.
This is not Stokes’ case only; many England cricketers have suffered from injuries in The Hundred. Take another example of Dillon Pennington. He was in the Test squad against West Indies but never got to play. He pulled his hamstring after delivering just five balls for Northern Superchargers in a recent game and will be out for the remainder of the season, compounding England’s problems ahead of the series against Sri Lanka.
He is set, in a related development, to join Sri Lanka’s coaching staff for their upcoming series against England. Ian Bell, the former England cricketer, aged 40, is mentoring Jamie Smith during The Hundred at Birmingham Phoenix, so he quipped that now, in the series, he would be in the opposition camp. He lightened the moment, which otherwise was getting too intense.
Now, as Stokes waits for his scan result, England prepares for some tough weeks ahead. All of this reshuffling of players and an ever-growing injury list is going to push England to the limit in terms of its depth and resilience to keep them going in the Test format. Refreshed and raring to go, Woakes has the task on his hands to be that integral figure, whether Stokes ultimately proves fit or not.
