London, June 7 (CRICKETNMORE) : England seamer Chris Woakes may not be fit for the first two of the upcoming four-match Test cricket series against South Africa due to the side strain that he suffered during their ICC Champions Trophy opening match against Bangladesh on June 1.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The Test series, which starts from July 6 at Lord's, holds immense importance to the English side as South Africa have won both of the last Test series played between the two teams in England.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It's a left side strain and there is a tear in the muscle. It's a grade-two injury, which is not terrible news, but it's not great news at the same time," Woakes was quoted as saying by espncricinfo on Tuesday. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
"They say it's roughly a four-to-six week injury, and it's more likely to be towards the six when I am back playing competitive cricket," the 28-year-old right-armer added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"I'm on day five of my recovery now, and the physios say for the first 10 to 14 days there's not a lot we can do other than rest it."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The injury to Woakes means that two of England's three first choice pace bowlers are doubtful, as veteran James Anderson is also suffering from a groin injury. There is also a question mark over the fitness of all-rounder Ben Stokes with his knee not being in perfect condition. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
In absence of Woakes and Anderson, England will look to give a chance to their backup bowlers like Mark Wood, Steven Finn, Jake Ball,and Toby Roland-Jones.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In 2012 South Africa was the country which replaced England as the number one team in the Test rankings by winning a series played between the two teams by a 2-0 margin.<\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2017\/06\/wokes1.jpg", "alt_img": "ICC Champions Trophy", "alt_title": "Chris Woakes", "image1": "", "video": "", "seo_title": "England seamer Woakes doubtful for first two Tests against S. Africa", "seo_desc": "England seamer Woakes doubtful for first two Tests against S. AfricaLondon, June 7 (CRICKETNMORE) : England seamer Chris Woakes may not be fit for the first two", "seo_keywords": "Chris Woakes, ICC Champions Trophy", "tag": "", "tagging": "", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "0", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": "0", "slug": "england-seamer-woakes-doubtful-for-first-two-tests-against-s-africa", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": "0000-00-00", "ians_time": "00:00:00", "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "trash": "0", "view_count": "1775", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "0", "auto_link": "0", "created": "2017-06-07 17:27:00", "updated": "2017-06-07 17:27:00", "img_from": "", "img_source": "", "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "news_keywords": null, "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "0", "google_feed": "0", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "1", "jio_date": "2017-06-07 17:27:00", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": "2017-06-07 17:27:00", "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": null, "article_content_type": null, "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/england-seamer-woakes-doubtful-for-first-two-tests-against-s-africa-27755" }