England withdraw Chris Woakes from Hundred over injury fears

Chris Woakes has been made unavailable for the remainder of the Hundred season as England choose to manage his workload.

England’s Test side were dealt a major blow when Ben Stokes had to be helped from the field with a hamstring injury while playing for Northern Superchargers in the franchise competition on Sunday.

Stokes is due to have a scan on the injury on Tuesday, with the full extent of the impact not yet known, but it is unlikely he will play in the first Test against Sri Lanka which starts on August 21.

Woakes had been due to play the final two group stage matches for Birmingham Phoenix in the England and Wales Cricket Board’s flagship competition.

England’s squad depth would be severely affected if they lose both all-rounders in Woakes and Stokes before the Sri Lanka series.

The side are already affected by injuries with Zak Crawley, who has not missed a game under Stokes and Brendon McCullum’s leadership until this point, ruled out of the series with a finger injury.

Dillon Pennington, one of the new generation of fast bowlers, was called up to the squad at the start of the summer, has not played a match, but is a doubt for the upcoming series with a hamstring problem.

In place of Crawley, England have elected to choose Dan Lawrence to open the batting, despite the Surrey man not being a specialist opener. But he has been around the squad a long time, including travelling on the tour of India, although he has yet to be awarded a Test cap.

Jordan Cox was called up for the first time to provide cover in the middle order, and with Stokes injured, he might get a chance sooner than expected.