England pacer Chris Woakes has dismissed concerns surrounding his knee, saying that it’s not an immediate threat to his international career.
Woakes is suffering from tendinitis in his right knee, which by his own admission, requires careful management. But the England pacer, who spent the entire Test series against the Windies on the bench, and was rested for the second ODI in Barbados due to the short turnover time, maintained that the issue isn’t so crippling as to draw any concerns about his future in the sport.
“It’s not a concern,” Woakes said ahead of the third ODI in Grenada that takes place on Monday, 25 February. “By no means do I feel I’m coming to the end or it’s the end of my career.
“My knee is something I’ve had to manage for the past eight years. It’s just a dodgy knee from too much bowling. There’s other guys around, who’ve probably got the same. It comes with the territory. It’s not something I’m overly worried about. I feel fit now and I’m good to go.
“We have looked at the World Cup schedule, and it’s not as tight as you might think. That might work in my favour. I got through four Ashes Tests last winter, plus all the warm-up games, the five ODIs, plus four ODIs in New Zealand. I had this then. I know I can get through cricket.”
Despite what he might say, England have reason to be concerned with Woakes ahead of a big home summer that extends past the World Cup into a home Ashes series, and as such, Woakes’ workload will continue to be carefully managed.
“You have a job as a new-ball bowler to try and take wickets,” he said. “It’s the time when you’re most likely to get a little bit of movement. It’s tricky because most of the time the ball skids on and the batters are looking to score. But when batters are looking to score that gives you opportunities to take wickets. Dot balls are great, but we want to be getting batsmen out. My mantra as such is to put the ball where they don’t want. There’s no real magic behind it.”
He also showered praise on Liam Plunkett, who is likely to be fighting it out for the final seamer’s slot, amid concerns that the fast bowler has lost some yards in his pace. “Liam’s been superb for us in the past few years,” Woakes said. “You look at his strike rate: I think it’s up there with the best of all time which, in the modern game and through the middle overs, is an extremely great effort. He is as good as ever.”
