England all-rounder Chris Woakes has been ruled out of the solitary ODI against Scotland with a sore quadriceps muscle. Tom Curran has been called up to replace him.
An assessment is due this week to figure out if he can be fit in time for the upcoming five-match ODI series against Australia, starting June 13.
This is not the first time the 29-year-old will nurse a tight quad, with a similar injury ruling him out of the final leg of the ODI series against South Africa in 2017. He later picked up a side strain after bowling just one over in England’s campaign opener at the Champions Trophy in 2017. He was later ruled out of the remainder of the tournament.
The injury to Woakes comes on the back of the other all-rounder in the outfit, Ben Stokes’s injury news. Stokes picked up a hamstring injury during a training session last week, scans on which revealed a tear in the left hamstring. He too will miss the Scotland ODI on June 10 and will be out of action of the “first part” of the Australia ODIs.
Woakes’s replacement, Curran, comes into the squad, having played five matches at the recently concluded IPL for the Kolkata Knight Riders. He picked up six wickets across five sporadic appearances, leaking runs at an economy of 11.6. Curran though has been impressive in his brief ODI stint with England, picking up 12 wickets from eight games, including a five-fer against Australia earlier this year.
