Sawt Falasteen - England say injured Woakes set to miss rest of India decider

Woakes injured himself late on Thursday's opening day in south London in a desperate bid to prevent a boundary, landing awkwardly and then leaving the field with his left arm in a makeshift sling while in evident pain.

He was then assessed by team medical staff and while Woakes could yet feature again in a dire emergency, an England spokesman, speaking before the start of Friday's second day, effectively ruled him.

"England seamer Chris Woakes will continue to be monitored throughout the remainder of the Rothesay Fifth Test at The Kia Oval, following a left shoulder injury sustained on day one of the match against India," the spokesman said.

"At this stage, the injury has ruled him out of any further participation in the Test.

"A further assessment will be conducted at the conclusion of the series."

India, who must win the match to end a five-Test series level at 2-2, were 204-6 at Thursday's close after being sent into bat.

Woakes is the only England pace bowler to have featured in every match of a gruelling series where five Tests have been squeezed into a schedule of seven weeks.

On generally flat pitches in the preceding four Tests, Woakes struggled to make an impact, taking 10 wickets. And on Thursday he had India opener KL Rahul chop the ball onto his stumps before suffering the injury.

Given his mediocre record away from home, Woakes already faced a tough task to gain selection for England's upcoming Ashes tour of Australia and at the age of 36, this injury could threaten the Warwickshire all-rounder's international career.

In the short term, his injury is set to leave an already depleted England pace attack a a man down at the Oval, with substitutes only permitted to field, not bat or bowl.

England captain Ben Stokes, the leading wicket-taker this series, is missing the series finale with a shoulder injury, while pacemen Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse were both left out at the Oval following their previous workload in this series.

Express quick Mark Wood is a long-term absentee, while Olly Stone is only just returning to fitness following a knee injury.

R.AbuNasser--SF-PST