A dislocated left shoulder to Chris Woakes robs one of England’s finest of the chance of a proper farewell, writes Phil Walker
The Oval is the scene of teary farewells, but not like this. In the gloaming of day one, Chris Woakes lugged his knackered body to the long-off boundary to save a measly single, tumbling in the act of retrieval and staying down, agony etched, his left shoulder crumpling beneath him. It was, on various levels, as painful as it gets.
Woakes is one of the game’s good guys, the most popular and well-adjusted cricketer in this team.
Histrionics are for others. If he’s do...
