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Coronavirus: Woakes welcomes aches and pains as he targets England action

Chris Woakes has returned to net training at Edgbaston, and he admits it felt good to bowl again, even if his body is feeling the strain.

By John Skilbeck
ChrisWoakes - cropped

London, May 22: England all-rounder Chris Woakes savoured his first training stint for months but admitted his body was aching on Friday's "first waddle to the toilet".

The Warwickshire player had a spell in the nets at Edgbaston on Thursday, with professional cricket attempting to slowly get back up and running amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Woakes, 31, had to follow strict guidelines on social distancing and admitted the experience "was a lot different" to a usual session.

"But with what everyone's been through, it was nice to get out there and get the ball back in hand really," he said.

"It's been two months since I last bowled. It was nice to be back in the middle, albeit a little different."

The 2019 World Cup winner admitted to feeling "a little bit sore this morning".

"The first waddle to the toilet was a bit interesting," Woakes said. "But it's okay, the body actually is not too bad.

"But having not bowled for two months there were a few things that were sore - sides certainly.

"I woke up this morning knowing I'd had a bowl yesterday, but it was nice to be out there."

It remains to be seen what cricket Woakes might have to play this summer, with England's planned home series against West Indies, Pakistan and Australia hinging on a variety of factors.

Those teams will want to be certain measures are in place that will safeguard the health of their touring parties.

"First and foremost, we just hope there's going to be some sort of cricket," Woakes said.

"That will be obviously very different but at the same time it'd be nice to have some cricket and some form of normality.

"Hopefully we can get some games - what that schedule will exactly look like we don't really know."

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is hoping international series can be salvaged, with income from lucrative broadcast contracts providing a valuable backbone of the game.

Woakes added: "Obviously it would be a boost for the game. We've all seen the projections [saying] the ECB and the game in general could be in a bit of trouble if we weren't to play any cricket this summer, so hopefully we can get some form of schedule going."

Story first published: Friday, May 22, 2020, 22:26 [IST]
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