Prior to England‘s Test series against Sri Lanka starting next week, the ECB has decided to withdraw Chris Woakes from the final week of the Hundred due to the management of his workload.
Woakes was originally scheduled to participate in the final two games of the Hundred group stage, which were scheduled to take place at Edgbaston on Monday and Thursday, respectively, against the Trent Rockets and Manchester Originals. However, on Monday, the ECB declared him unavailable for the remainder of the competition.
Ben Stokes, the captain of England’s Test team, suffered a hamstring injury on Sunday night when playing for the Northern Superchargers; England refuted this claim, stating that the decision to withdraw Woakes from the Hundred was made before that game. However, Woakes is expected to take on a more prominent role as England’s primary all-round player if Stokes is declared out of the Sri Lanka series as expected.
Stokes will undergo a hamstring scan on Tuesday after hobbling off the field and retiring hurt during the Superchargers’ victory over the Manchester Originals on Sunday night. Before England’s Test series against Sri Lanka, which begins in Manchester on August 21, Harry Brook, the captain of the Superchargers, stated that the injury “doesn’t look great” and that he ended the night on crutches.
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Jordan Cox, who is yet to receive a cap, serves as England’s backup batsman. Dan Lawrence is expected to take the position of the injured Zak Crawley at the top of the order and might take Stokes’ spot at number six if they decide to select just four major bowling options. Alternatively, Jamie Smith and Woakes may go up to Nos. 6 and 7, respectively, with Matthew Potts or Olly Stone replacing Stokes and batting No. 8.
From their last two Test matches against the West Indies, none of England’s starting bowlers participated in the Hundred this year. Although Gus Atkinson has been training with the Oval Invincibles team, he has not been picked, and neither Mark Wood nor Shoaib Bashir have a contract in the league. Wood has not played for Durham, and Bashir has only been picked once by Somerset for the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.
It’s not just Stokes who has sustained an injury while competing for England in the Hundred this year. After bowling five balls for the Northern Superchargers in their victory over the Oval Invincibles, Dillon Pennington—who was left off of the West Indies Test squad—pulled up with a hamstring injury that will keep him out of the game for the whole season.
