England are set to add Chris Woakes to their Test squad for the first time this summer if he comes through Warwickshire’s Vitality Blast quarter-final against Kent unscathed tonight.
Woakes is one of a raft of missing England fast bowlers, with Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer, Olly Stone and Ben Stokes all set to miss the rest of the summer. Mark Wood is missing the Third Test with a shoulder injury but was due to bowl today and could play at The Oval.
Woakes was England’s player of the summer in 2020, but has managed to go 12 months without a Test due to injuries, rest and rotation, and isolation. He has played white-ball cricket this summer but suffered a bruised heel in July that has taken longer than hoped to recover.
England would surely like to give James Anderson a rest to prevent the 39-year-old playing five matches in six weeks.
Keeper Ben Foakes is nearing his county comeback from a torn hamstring. He is training again and is expected to play some of Surrey’s final four Championship matches.
Jos Buttler could miss one of the remaining Tests for the birth of his second child, but it is likely that would come too soon for Foakes.
