Jake Ball drafted in for Australia ODIs following Chris Woakes injury

England is scheduled to play one ODI versus Scotland followed by a five-match ODI affair and one T20I against Australia. The team previously announced a full-strength team for the series. However, they have had some injury concerns prior to their all-important encounters. Ben Stokes became the first casualty when he was ruled out of the Scotland ODI owing to a hamstring injury.

Meanwhile, Chris Woakes, another of England’s all-rounders, suffered a right quad strain during the last day of the Barmy Army’s second Test versus Pakistan at Headingley in Leeds. He walked away from the field and didn’t return. Subsequently, he was ruled out of the ODI versus the Scots. To make things worse, he will also not feature in the first few matches of the Australia-series.

Ball’s rich vein of form

Jake Ball, the Nottinghamshire pace bowler, has been roped in as a replacement for the injured Woakes for the Australia series as per reports in Sky Sports. Ball has been superlative form in the domestic circuit. The Mansfield-born player has notched 27 wickets in five matches in the Specsavers County Championship Division One and is Nottinghamshire’s leading wicket-taker.

The 27-year old has also shown tremendous form in the Royal London Cup and has 10 wickets in six contests. Albeit he has been expensive with an economy of 6.03, his ability to churn out wickets has kept him in the radar of selection in the national team. Ball last represented England in the ODI fixtures against Australia. He played one match at Perth where he finished with a spell of 10-0-58-0.

The fast-bowler made his debut back on October 16 and has only played 17 ODIs thus far in which he has managed 21 wickets. Nevertheless, inconsistent performances never allowed him to stay put in his position in England colours. The match against Scotland will be staged on June 10 and the first of the five ODIs will take place three days afterwards on July 13.

[interaction id=”5b0fd377de3861bc09545bfb”]

CricTracker is the home to all ‘cricketing news‘, trends and developments.