‘a Big Shame’: Chris Woakes Could Miss Rest Of Fifth Test With Shoulder Injury

England look playing nan remainder of nan 5th Test against India a bowler down aft Chris Woakes injured his near enarthrosis while fielding on nan opening day astatine nan Oval. The 36-year-old was scheduled to person a scan connected Thursday evening, pinch his expertise to return an progressive portion successful nan remainder of nan crippled to beryllium assessed overnight.

Woakes, nan only English bowler considered fresh capable to play each 5 games of a gruelling series, was intelligibly successful sizeable symptom aft landing awkwardly while attempting to support nan shot distant from nan bound successful nan 60th complete of a rain-affected day. After curen connected nan section he was led to nan dressing room pinch his limb cradled successful a makeshift sling.

“It doesn’t look great,” said Gus Atkinson, who was nan prime of England’s bowlers connected his return to nan team. “It’s a large shame, successful nan past crippled of nan series. I’m hoping it’s not excessively bad and immoderate it is he’ll get afloat support from everyone.”

Atkinson, who since injuring a hamstring successful May has played 1 nine crippled and erstwhile for Surrey’s 2nd XI, said he was assured he could thief nan team’s remaining seamers screen for Woakes if nan scan brings bad news. “I consciousness fresh, I consciousness good,” he said. “I cognize I’ve only sewage this 1 crippled to play, truthful I tin push nan limits a bit.”

Assisted by immoderate bad boy bowling, if not by a green-tinged pitch, respective rainfall breaks and consistently threatening overhead conditions, India reached stumps connected 204 for six, pinch Karun Nair unbeaten connected 52 arsenic he seeks to springiness a antecedently personally disappointing circuit an ending brighter than nan skies he was playing under.

“You look astatine nan pitch, you look astatine nan overheads and you deliberation this should beryllium easy for nan bowlers, but it’s a crushed wherever if you don’t vessel good you tin spell for a batch of runs,” said Atkinson. “It tin beryllium a reliable crushed to vessel connected because of nan measurement nan shot moves – sometimes disconnected nan pitch, and it tin plaything a batch aft it’s pitched. And nan footholes weren’t easy. It was slippy retired location and that tin evidently impact nan bowling.”

Ryan 10 Doeschate, India’s adjunct coach, defended nan determination not to play nan team’s prima bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, successful conditions that look perfect for him and aft their captain, Shubman Gill, had indicated connected Wednesday that he remained nether consideration.

Gus Atkinson says he tin ‘push nan limits’ a spot much successful his only Test quality of nan series. Photograph: Graham Hunt/ProSports/Shutterstock

“It’s rather a analyzable issue. We want to instrumentality him retired but we besides want to respect wherever his body’s at,” nan Dutchman said. “He’s bowled a ample number of overs. He did opportunity coming into nan circuit he could only play 3 games and we felt it was correct to honour that call.

“Our reasoning was nan Oval’s usually a reasonably bully wicket for batting on, truthful we thought we’d rotation nan dice successful Manchester. With hindsight we’d emotion to person him here. Maybe England person sewage it spot on, leaving nan champion bowling wicket for nan past Test aft he’s played three. For a circuit of England you’d expect conditions person to this than what we’ve seen successful nan first 4 Tests.”

England’s task was eased by a calamitous determination by Gill, nan starring run-scorer successful nan series, to effort a tally aft nudging nan shot into Atkinson’s way arsenic nan bowler completed his follow-through and having scored only 21. “He’s successful nan touch of his life. Again coming he made batting look really easy,” Ten Doeschate said. “But these mistakes do happen, and that’s a misjudgement of a run. Given what he’s done successful nan first 4 Tests we’ll fto him get distant pinch that one.”