ECB pulls Chris Woakes out of The Hundred following Ben Stokes’ hamstring injury

England red-ball captain Ben Stokes injured his hamstring during the ongoing Hundred and is doubtful for the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka. Keeping that in mind, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) decided to pull Chris Woakes out of the tournament, citing workload management. Apart from Stokes and Woakes, the team does not have a pace-bowling all-rounder in the scheme of things, prompting management to take such a call. 

Woakes was initially slated to play Birmingham Phoenix’s upcoming matches against Trent Rockets and Manchester Originals. However, the franchise on Monday, August 12 confirmed that the cricketer is ‘unavailable for the remainder of the tournament’. Given that Stokes might miss the entire Sri Lanka series, the ECB is trying to safeguard Woakes as the all-rounder is likely to play a greater role.

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As per ESPNcricinfo, Stokes will be undergoing a scan on August 13 and the result of the same will decide his participation against Sri Lanka. The 33-year-old limped off the ground during the match against Manchester and by later in the night, he was on crutches. Northern Superchargers’ captain Harry Brook confirmed that the injury doesn’t look great and in case it doesn’t improve, the all-rounder will miss his first Test series after taking over as England captain.

Notably, opener Zak Crawley is already ruled out of the three-match series against Sri Lanka. Dan Lawrence replaced him in the squad and is likely to feature in the playing XI. Jonny Bairstow, who was dropped from the series, can make his way back into the squad but getting into the playing XI remains a doubt. Uncapped batter Jordan Cox may earn his debut cap if Stokes misses out.

Meanwhile, former England cricketer Ian Bell will be joining the Sri Lanka camp for the Test series. He is currently a part of Birmingham’s coaching staff and after the completion of The Hundred, the 42-year-old is slated to join the Dhananjaya de Silva-led side in Manchester.