Woakes and Wood fit to join Stokes in England's T20 World Cup squad

By Sports Desk September 02, 2022

Chris Woakes and Mark Wood have been passed fit to make England's squad for the T20 World Cup, which includes Test captain Ben Stokes.

Woakes had previously been a doubt for the October-November tournament due to knee surgery, while Wood required an operation on his elbow.

But both men have made Jos Buttler's 15-man group for the World Cup and the prior three-match tour of Australia.

Woakes and Wood were also included in a larger travelling party for the September tour of Pakistan, which was also confirmed on Friday.

Chris Jordan and Liam Livingstone, who have respective finger and ankle injuries, will skip that series as they have been granted more time to recuperate, but both are still on course to feature at the World Cup.

Stokes – still engaged in a Test series against South Africa – also will not face Pakistan but will make the World Cup, returning to Twenty20 International cricket for the first time since March 2021.

Since then, Stokes has taken a break from cricket to look after his mental health, returned as Test skipper and retired from ODIs to help manage his workload.

The plan was always for Stokes to still feature at this year's T20 World Cup, and he is indeed involved.

Limited-overs captain Buttler is another whose fitness will be assessed carefully, however, with a calf problem meaning Moeen Ali will deputise as skipper for the start of the Pakistan series.

The squad for that tour includes five new faces in Jordan Cox, Tom Helm, Will Jacks, Olly Stone and Luke Wood.

England squad for T20 World Cup and Australia series:

Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Surrey), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Ben Stokes (Durham), Reece Topley (Surrey), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).

Travelling reserves:

Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Tymal Mills (Sussex).

England squad for Pakistan series:

Jos Buttler (Lancashire), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Jordan Cox (Kent), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Liam Dawson (Hampshire), Richard Gleeson (Lancashire), Tom Helm (Middlesex), Will Jacks (Surrey), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Olly Stone (Warwickshire), Reece Topley (Surrey), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Luke Wood (Lancashire), Mark Wood (Durham).

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    Jos Buttler is eager to put his "frustrating" injury absence behind him, and the England white-ball captain has "loads of hunger" to get back on the field.

    A recurring calf injury has kept Buttler sidelined since June, with the 34-year-old also set to miss the three-match ODI series against the West Indies, which begins on Thursday.

    Liam Livingstone will take over as captain in the absence of Buttler, who should return for the subsequent five-match T20 series in the Caribbean.

    And the keeper-batter cannot wait to appear for his country once more.

    "It's been frustrating, but now it's feeling good, and I'm looking forward to getting back on the field," he told TNT Sports. 

    "[I've had] a couple of little setbacks along the way, which is frustrating, but I'm using it to motivate me. I'm just excited to get back on the pitch and back with the bat in hand in the middle.

    "I'm OK at watching. I think it fuels that fire to get out in the middle and play. You want to be performing and part of the team, leading the side.

    "I try not to have a mindset of being frustrated, but take it as a bit of an extended break out of the game. But hopefully, [I can] see it as some time away to really give me loads of hunger to get back on the field."

    Buttler also offered his thoughts on Livingstone, who he believes is the safe pair of hands to take over the captaincy for the ODI series.

    "Liam is one of the more experienced numbers in that group, and it gives him a chance to get some leadership experience, build that leadership group," he added.

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    "I think it's really important to let them go out there and do their thing. You don't want to be asking someone to do exactly what you want to do, you're trying to give guys experience. If he needs a sounding board or anything, he can certainly ask my opinion."

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    On a reused pitch in Multan, England fell to a 152-run defeat to the hosts with the 33-year-old all-rounder managing 1 and 37 with the bat and bowling just 10 overs without a wicket. 

    Stokes did not have much luck in the third Test either, collecting just 15 runs over the two innings as Pakistan made it back-to-back wins to win the three-match series. 

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    Ben Stokes has no doubt that England's battling line-up features the country's "best top six players", despite a capitulation against Pakistan.

    A 2-1 series defeat for England was confirmed on Saturday, as Pakistan claimed a nine-wicket triumph in Rawalpindi.

    The tourists were undone by Pakistan's spin bowlers, with Sajid Khan and Noman Ali seeing England all out for 112, their lowest-ever total in Pakistan. 

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    The last couple of Tests we've been thrown some challenges and it's pretty easy to assess that we weren't able to stand up to those challenges."

    Stokes also put the onus on himself to improve, after he struggled to get going following his return from injury.

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    "The disappointment is always there, it always hits hard, but when you have so much experience to fall back on it is a little bit easier to take."

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    "What he did through the summer, stepping up with his captaincy and leadership and him stepping up into that role, even his 150 in that final Test match, we know when he gets in, he gets big scores and defining scores as well," said McCullum said.

    "It's not an easy place to bat at number three. I know he'll be disappointed with the volume of runs in this series but I expect him to bounce back in New Zealand.

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    England's next Test series sees them face New Zealand, starting next month.

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