England all-rounder Chris Woakes is confident that his fitness will be able to withstand the rigours of the upcoming ICC World Cup and subsequent Ashes series against Australia.
Woakes has been hampered by a troublesome knee for some time now in his career with the all-rounder missing out on England’s Test series against West Indies and Sri Lanka in the last few months.
While he has been featuring in the limited-overs squad regularly, Woakes was forced to sit out the second ODI against West Indies in Bridgetown recently after another flare up in his knee. Now, with England’s World Cup squad announcement just days away, the 30-year-old is feeling pretty confident about his fitness.
“I feel like I’ll still be able to get through constant days of cricket. It’s in a better place than it was in the West Indies,” Woakes was quoted as saying by the Cricketer.
“I just found that in the Caribbean when it flared up a little bit, I struggled to get out of second gear and it just felt like I couldn’t really get going.
“Since getting back it’s been good to have a couple of injections, settle it down, build a bit of strength around it and do a bit of rehab. I feel like I’ve turned a corner with it.”
Woakes has been grappling with knee issues for some time.
The England all-rounder is hoping to avoid a repeat of the last time he played in a major international tournament for his country. In the 2017 Champions Trophy held in England, Woakes had broken down in the very first game against Bangladesh before subsequently being ruled out of the tournament.
“You know, injuries are part and parcel of the game and part of professional sport,” said Woakes.
“But what happened in the Champions Trophy gives me a little bit of extra motivation to be right for an exciting summer ahead.
“It’s just something which I have to manage and constantly maintain. As a fast bowler, you’re always going to have something that’s sore, so if that’s the only thing that’s sore I’ll take that.”
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