Ollie Robinson has been ruled out of England’s first Test against the West Indies with a back spasm, with uncapped seamer Saqib Mahmood stepping into the squad.
Robinson pulled up midway through an over during the warm-up match against a CWI President’s XI and was unable to take part in training on Sunday.
England were already unlikely to gamble on the 28-year-old’s fitness but that settled the issue, allowing Mahmood to take his spot in a 12-man squad.
Interim head coach Paul Collingwood and captain Joe Root must now decide whether to hand the Lancashire quick a debut on Tuesday in an all-seam attack or stick with the variety of Jack Leach’s left-arm spin.
Craig Overton seems certain to play, while Mark Wood has recovered from illness, but with record wicket-takers James Anderson and Stuart Broad controversially dropped for the tour, concerns over the depth of the pace attack is the last thing the tourists wanted.
“Ollie is a talented bowler. Naturally he’ll be a big miss,” said Chris Woakes, who is the senior bowler on the trip.
“He’s shown in his short Test career so far that he’s certainly got the skills and the ability to do good things in the format. At the same time, it gives people opportunities.
“We’re trying to win games cricket here, but it does give that chance to someone to potentially make their Test debut who’s been waiting in the wings for quite a while to show what they can can do at this level.
“Jimmy and Stuart have bowled fantastically for England over a long period of time and obviously they are going to be missed but we have to focus on what we have here and how we are going to win this Test series.
“Without doubt they are two of England’s greats. To lose both of them, for them not be on this tour is going to leave a hole. But it gives great opportunities to others to step up and put in some strong performances and put their case forward.”
Woakes is grateful that he was spared the same fate as his two experienced team-mates following the 4-0 thrashing Down Under.
Having just turned 33, and with his six Australian wickets costing a hefty 55.33, he realises he could easily have been one of those watching from home. With head coach Chris Silverwood, assistant Graham Thorpe and director of cricket Ashley Giles, he feels for those who did pay the price.
“Yeah, I feared for my place, definitely. It would have been silly not to,” he said.
“So I’m delighted to be here, to be backed and have another opportunity to have a crack at it. Something I took away from Australia is making sure you don’t take playing for England for granted. We work so incredibly hard to get to this point, to become an England player….but it’s easily taken away from you.
“You never like seeing people lose their jobs or positions in a team. As a player, I think you feel a bit guilty. I think you feel a bit gutted and a little bit of guilt on your part but, at the same time, things move forward and we have to look forward to trying to win games of cricket for England now.
“Naturally you are disappointed and feel for them, but we all come into this team, you’re around it for a period of time and then you move on and the team is still here. The England cricket team is bigger than anyone and you have to remember that and try to do as well as you can while you’re here and keep taking the cap forward.”
Chris Woakes said: “The England cricket team is bigger than anyone and you have to remember that and try to do as well as you can while you’re here and keep taking the cap forward.”
England’s task in the Caribbean is a tough one, with just one series win on these islands since 1968. Last time they visited Antigua in 2019 they were skittled twice for less than 200 as the hosts celebrated a 10-wicket win.
Woakes has revealed that teamwork has been a key focus of their preparations, hinting that there was a growing trend of individualism during the Ashes.
“In Australia maybe (we) got into a place where people were thinking more internally, thinking on personal levels rather than thinking fully about the bigger picture and about how to win games of cricket as a team,” he explained.
“The last week or so we’ve tried to work on how we can get better at doing things as a unit rather than individually. We still need to be better as a collective, we can’t just rely on certain individuals to always step up and put their hand up.”
