Woakes is likely to be ruled out of tournament
Eoin Morgan admitted that losing Chris Woakes would be a big loss if he was ruled out of the rest of the tournament today with a side strain.
Woakes had a scan on his left side last night and his tournament looks to be over, forcing England to call up a replacement for a player who has become an integral part of their one-day team opening the bowling and lengthening the batting.
Joe Root is also nursing a calf strain suffered when he rolled his ankle during his 10th one-day hundred and Ben Stokes’s knee will continue to be monitored after he was forced to bowl more overs than planned due to the injury to Woakes.
Woakes is the biggest worry. The Warwickshire all-rounder missed two matches against South Africa with a slight thigh strain but this injury is far worse. A side strain is a tricky injury for a seam bowler to shake off and can easily be made worse by trying to play through the pain.
England will also have one eye on the Test series against South Africa, which starts at Lord’s on July 6.
David Willey is the next in line in the squad to replace Woakes but England will call up a replacement, with Middlesex pair Toby Rolandjones and Steven Finn the frontrunners after playing at Lord’s on Monday. Stuart Broad is the most experienced and best replacement but has played only two one-day in-
ternationals since the last World Cup. The injury to Woakes took some of the gloss off England’s run chase, the highest ever in a Champions Trophy tie.
“He’s obviously been very impressive for us over the last couple of years, and a mainstay, very reliable guy,” said Morgan. “And it is a worry when he goes off the field and can’t come back on and bowl. Side strains are a big confidence thing. He would definitely be a loss if he couldn’t play.
“Potentially
Woakes is a worry for the rest of the tournament. We have to wait and
see. Ben Stokes has bowled seven overs, which we thought was a stretch for him, but he hasn’t felt his knee all day.” This was Root’s 11th score of more than 50 in eight one-day innings for England and he completely mastered the run chase without taking risks. Despite the pain of his injury, 74 of his first 100 runs came through singles or twos as he played a measured innings, only hitting out once the target was in sight.
“It was very satisfying,” he said. “That is one of the things you strive for as a batter: to make a big contribution and be not out at the end. It is a great statement from us but it also fills us with confidence going into the next game. It’s a really good start and something to build on and hopefully now we can do that. The calf is all right. It looks like it is just a bit of cramp. I don’t see it as a big issue. The medical
team are pretty happy with it, I am happy with it and it seemed to ease off at the back end of the innings.”
England left out Adil Rashid for this game because they felt Bangladesh would be susceptible against a seam attack. Rashid is a confidence player and, having played 41 of England’s 44 matches since the last World Cup, being left out for the opening match of a home global tournament is a knock-back.
Another low score for Jason Roy puts more pressure on him but Morgan again gave him his full backing.
“I thought he was terribly unlucky. It was quite smart, bowling a slower ball from the opening bowler, and brave. It was a big gamble. But that sort of stuff can happen. You can get out in that sort of fashion when you’re short on runs. But yeah, certainly we believe in him,” said Morgan.
The hosts will now have two days off before reconvening on Sunday ahead of the game against New Zealand.