Chris Woakes likely to miss the first Test vs New Zealand at Lord's

England would be desperate to rediscover their mojo in red-ball cricket when they host the World Test champions New Zealand in a home Test series starting June 2 at the iconic Lord’s Cricket Ground. They will have a new-look squad with star all-rounder Ben Stokes succeeding Joe Root as the skipper in whites.

However, they will be missing the services of bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes after he failed to recover from the injuries that he had suffered during the West Indies tour in March this year. Woakes played all the three games since the seasoned duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad were not included in the squad and an elbow injury had cut short Mark Wood’s tour in the first Test.

Here’s why Chris Woakes could miss the opening Test home series against New Zealand

England returned from the Caribbean soil suffering a 0-1 loss in the Test series after the first two games ended in a stalemate, but the hectic schedule did eventually take a toll on Woakes’ body thereafter. According to reports in the Evening Standard, “Woakes’ body struggled to stand up to the schedule and he has returned to Warwickshire with a variety of injuries, notably to his shoulder and knee. He is not expected to require surgery, but is not ready to play yet.”

With England set to name their squad for the upcoming series soon, they would be hoping that Chris Woakes would be seen in action for Warwickshire’s clash against Yorkshire next week. Should he participate in that contest, then it could be a sign of good news for England who are already short of depth in their fast bowling with injuries to Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, and Olly Stone who will be missing the upcoming series.

As far as their pace attack is concerned, the Three Lions have the options of James Anderson and Stuart as their frontline bowlers with the likes of Saqib Mahmood and Craig Overton in the scheme of things along with Ollie Robinson.