Stokes, who will see a consultant on Tuesday to assess the full damage to his knee, picked up the injury while bowling against Sri Lanka at Headingley and tried to play through the pain but to no avail.
Advertisement
The second Test against Sri Lanka will be the first that Stokes has missed since being recalled against West Indies in April past year and is a blow to Durham, his county, who have struggled to sell tickets for the match and would have still been hoping for some late interest with the presence of a local star.
Woakes, who took a career-best 9-36 against Durham at Edgbaston yesterday, would represent a like-for-like replacement given his ability with the bat for all that he would nearly certainly bat lower, below Jonny Bairstow and Moeen Ali at No8.
Sri Lanka, following on, were 116 for seven at tea on a rain-interrupted third day – still 91 runs shy of making England bat again.
Woakes will vie with pace bowler Jake Ball for a place in the final XI for Friday’s match at Chester-le-Street.
England captain Alastair Cook said he knew Jonathan Bairstow would be an worldwide player from the moment he first set eyes on him after the Yorkshireman’s impressive century set up a thumping Test win over Sri Lanka.
Burnley’s James Anderson moved up to sixth on the list of all-time Test wicket-takers as he dismantled Sri Lanka at Headingley.
James Anderson, third left, celebrates after taking the wicket of Dimuth Karunaratne during day three of the first cricket Test at Headingley.
It was all a far cry from events in Leeds in 2014 when England last man Anderson was reduced to tears after his gutsy tailend resistance ended off the penultimate ball of the match as Sri Lanka won by 100 runs to seal their first Test series win on English soil.
Since his Test debut during the 2013-14 Ashes series Down Under, which England lost 5-0, Stokes has shown numerous examples of his remarkable talent. While he is not Stokes – England have been looking for such a player since the retirement of Ian Botham – he is averaging 61 with the bat and 26.64 with the ball in this year’s county championship. “He is someone that is passionate to score runs for England and I would say his state of mind has been very good and if he gets a score in Durham he will be up and running”.
Stokes’s absence could see Jonny Bairstow promoted from his current No 7 berth.
Advertisement
England will win the three-Test series with victory at Stokes’ home ground.
