England trio doubtful for Champions Trophy start

ENGLAND were last night facing an injury crisis at the worst possible time after three key players were ruled out of today’s final one-day international against South Africa with the Champions Trophy just four days away. Ben Stokes, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali will all be missing at Lord’s for today’s Royal London dead rubber as England attempt to ensure they are instead available to face Bangladesh at the Oval on Thursday. England insist their actions are precautionary and that all three should be fine when their bid to finally win a global 50-over title begins later this week, but it must be a concern that three vital players are carrying knocks. They also said that it was not a gamble to play the crucial figure of Stokes in Saturday’s thrilling two-run victory at Southampton that sealed a series victory, but he now faces another scan on his sore left knee. And Woakes, who was rested on Saturday with what was described as a minor thigh injury, now faces a second match on the sidelines after spending six gruelling weeks with Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The new worry is a groin problem for Moeen, who was man of the match in England’s opening victory against the South Africans and has been an important figure since returning to the side after missing the two victories against Ireland. In the absence of the trio England have called up the Middlesex pair of Steven Finn and the uncapped Toby RolandJones and Hampshire’s left-arm spinner Liam Dawson, rather than relying on Champions Trophy squad players. But the biggest concern has to be Stokes, who showed how important he is to England with a century at the Ageas Bowl, but who was then forced to limp away to the outfield after bowling just three painful overs. Stokes remains convinced that the problem is a minor one, saying: ‘It is just in my delivery stride when I bowl. It’s just a bit of a sensation running up the side of my knee. Batting, running around the field and everything like that is absolutely fine. ‘We are managing it as well as we can and it’s an injury that sometimes just goes away. But I will have a scan to check it out.’