The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has pulled its premier bowling allrounder Chris Woakes out of the ongoing edition of the Men's Hundred following an injury scare to red-ball skipper Ben Stokes ahead of the upcoming three-match Test series against Sri Lanka starting August 21.
Woakes was representing Birmingham Phoenix in the men's Hundred and the team announced on Monday that the star allrounder had been made unavailable for the remainder of the season.
Notably, the 35-year-old was expected to play the remaining two group-stage games for Birmingham Phoenix against Trent Rockets (Monday, August 12) and Manchester Originals (Thursday, August 15).
England are in dire straits following an injury scare to Stokes. Stokes hurt his left hamstring while playing for Northern Superchargers on Sunday against Manchester Originals. The incident happened when he sprinted for a run and was seen clutching his left hamstring in pain. Stokes had to be taken off the field and is set to undergo a scan soon.
Stokes was seen using crutches to walk during the customary post-match handshake and therefore England have a genuine reason to be concerned. They are also set to miss their opening batter Zak Crawley who has not been added to the squad with a fractured finger.
Uncapped batter Jordan Cox has been added to the squad in Crawley's absence whereas Dan Lawrence is set to open the innings alongside Ben Duckett. Rookie pacer Dillon Pennington has also been ruled out of the series with a hamstring injury while playing in the Hundred.
Pennington has been replaced by the 30-year-old right-arm fast bowler Olly Stone.
England squad for Sri Lanka Tests
Ben Stokes (c), Ben Duckett, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jordan Cox, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Gus Atkinson, Shoaib Bashir, Matthew Potts, Olly Stone
