Knee fears for Woakes
I’ve had to manage it for years
ENGLAND’S World Cup plans could be thrown into disarray by a chronic knee injury to Chris Woakes.
The leader of their ODI seam attack insists the ongoing tendinitis, which he has been managing for most of his international career but could fl are up at any time, will not cause him yet another World Cup heartbreak.
And yet Woakes, 30 on Saturday, has freely admitted that soreness arises “all of a sudden” which would leave England with a huge dilemma during the tournament.
Woakes was a passenger during the Test series in the Windies because the injury left him unavailable for all three matches.
When he did play in the opening ODI win, he was then rested for the defeat in game two in a bid not to push him too hard physically before the summer.
Woakes believes his record last winter shows he can play a role for the whole summer but there will be some concern over the man who has developed into one of the game’s best powerplay bowlers.
“I wasn’t fi t, particularly for the fi rst two Tests,” said Woakes. “I turned up fi t to play, got through the warm- up game fi ne, then out of nowhere the two days prior to the Test my knee was sore all of a sudden.
“My knee is something I’ve had to manage for the past fi ve to eight years. It’s not something I’m overly worried about but of course it’s in the back of my mind.
“I’m keeping the rest of my body in good condition and doing everything I can to stay fi t. If some freak thing happens and I break down, well that’s part of professional sport.
“I feel fi t now and I’m good to go. By no means do I feel I’m coming to the end or it’s the end of my career. We have looked at the World Cup schedule and it’s not as tight as you might think. That might work in my favour, hopefully.”
Unlike in 2015 when he had the new ball ripped from his grasp on the eve of the tournament by head coach Peter Moores, it is inconceivable that Woakes will not be starting the innings with the ball come May 30.
A foot injury ended his World Cup early four years ago but this time he is determined to show off the skills that have kept the likes of Chris Gayle quiet in the early part of the innings. And with no T20 cricket for him to follow this series, Woakes is set to return to the side in Grenada today for the third ODI with the Windies riding high on the success of a 26- run victory based on the big hitting of Shimron Hetmyer.
“You have a job as a new- ball bowler to try and take wickets,” he said. “It’s the time when you’re most likely to get a little bit of movement and when batters are looking to score that gives you opportunities.
“Up front Gayle hasn’t got away from us, we’ve got a lot of dot balls on him but we want to get him early because he can be destructive.
“My mantra as such is to put the ball where they don’t want it. I think as a bowling unit we’re developing nicely.”
WEST INDIES ( probable): Campbell, Gayle, Bravo, Hope ( wk), Hetmyer, Pooran, Nurse, Holder ( c), Bishoo, Cottrell, Thomas.
ENGLAND ( probable): Roy, Bairstow, Root, Morgan ( c), Stokes, Buttler ( wk), Moeen, Rashid, Woakes, Curran, Plunkett.