Chris Woakes faces a tough choice between rehab and surgery for his shoulder injury. He aims to be fit for Ashes 2025 but risks re-injury by choosing rehab to speed recovery. Surgery means longer absence, which could threaten his Ashes participation.
England bowling all-rounder Chris Woakes is currently facing the dilemma of whether to opt for rehabilitation or undergo surgery for his injured shoulder in order to be fit in time for the upcoming Ashes 2025 series against hosts Australia, starting on November 21.
Woakes severely injured his left shoulder while attempting to stop the ball from touching the boundary line off Karun Nair’s down-the-ground straight drive in the first innings of England’s bowling in the fifth and final Test of the series at the Oval. The 36-year-old was seen writhing in pain and walked off the walk with a sweater as a makeshift sling, alongside a physiotherapist
Though Chris Woakes did not bowl in the second innings, he displayed remarkable courage to walk out to bat with his left arm in a sling when England were 357/9 and needed 17 runs to win the Oval Decider and win the series. Woakes could not bat, but his role as a second fiddle went in as England lost the final wicket of Gus Atkinson and fell short by just six runs, resulting in a thrilling 2-2 series draw against India.
Rehabilitation or Surgery: What will Chris Woakes choose?
The Ashes 2025 is three months away, but for Chris Woakes, it is racing against time to be fit, given the severity of the shoulder injury. When Woakes was writhing in pain while being Atkinson’s second fiddle in the Oval Test against India, it could be indicated that the injury is serious enough to threaten his participation in the Ashes Test series.
Speaking to BBC Sports, Woakes stated that he is awaiting the result of the scan to understand the severity of his injured shoulder, adding that the pacer is willing to take ‘sort of risk’ of taking the rehabilitation route rather than surgery to be fit in time.
“I’m waiting to see what the extent of the damage is, but I think the options will be to have surgery or to go down a rehab route and try and get it as strong as possible,” Woakes told BBC Sport.
“I suppose, naturally, with that, there will be a chance of a reoccurrence, but I suppose that could be a risk that you’re just willing to take sort of thing,” he added.
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Woakes played all five Test matches and was the lead pacer for England throughout the Test series against Team India. Before walking off the field due to a shoulder injury, Chris Woakes picked a wicket of KL Rahul and conceded 46 runs at an economy rate of 3.30 in 14 overs.
Why is Woakes likely to take the rehabilitation route?
Further speaking about shoulder injury, Chris Woakes stated that physios and specialists suggested that rehabilitation would take a shorter recovery time compared to surgery, allowing him to be fit in time for the Ashes series.
“From what I’ve heard from physios and specialists is that the rehab of a surgery option would be closer to four months or three to four months. That’s obviously touching on the Ashes and Australia, so it makes it tricky,” Woakes said.
“From a rehab point of view, you can probably get it strong again within eight weeks. So that could be an option, but again, obviously still waiting to get the full report on it,” he added.
Chris Woakes has a good record in the Ashes series, picking 44 wickets at an average of 34.76 in 15 matches since making his debut in 2013. Meanwhile, Woakes is expected to be one of the crucial players for England as the Three Lions are aiming to end their 10-year drought of winning the Ashes.