England seamers Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson are on course to be available for selection again from next month after injury-hit first half of the season
- Chris Woakes was sidelined for three months due to bone bruising in his knee
- He is playing for Warwickshire’s second XI this week and made 67 on Monday
- Ollie Robinson missed all three Tests in the Caribbean due to back spasms
Seldom-seen seamers Chris Woakes and Ollie Robinson are on course to bolster England’s selection options from next month following injury-plagued starts to 2022.
Woakes hit 67 with the bat for Warwickshire’s second XI against Worcestershire on Monday, having been selected to feature for the opening two days of four.
The 33-year-old was side-lined for the first three months of the summer due to bone bruising in his left knee but hopes a recent period of rest has resolved the issue, after a cortisone injection failed to.
Chris Woakes is on course to bolster England’s selection options from next month
He has not played since taking the new ball for England in a Test defeat to West Indies in March.
Sussex’s Robinson last featured internationally in the Ashes, missing all three Tests in the Caribbean due to recurring back spasms.
Those episodes then followed the 28-year-old into the county season, and combined with one absence for Covid and another for emergency dentistry, limited him to just two County Championship appearances before another breakdown.
Subsequent scans proved inconclusive but Robinson returned to bowling over recent days and is targeting the Division Two fixture against Middlesex on July 19 as a competitive comeback.
Sussex’s Ollie Robinson missed all three Tests in the Caribbean due to recurring back spasms
If both players come through their returns unscathed, Woakes will come into contention for the latter half of a dozen limited-overs internationals in July while Test specialist Robinson will hope to be considered for a three-Test series versus South Africa from mid-August.
Woakes has an excellent Test record in English conditions, claiming 94 wickets in 25 appearances at 22.63 runs apiece. As has Robinson, albeit it via a smaller sample size of 28 in five at 19.6.