Ashes 2025-26 | You're often looking at the next cycle, really, Rob Key on Chris Woakes future in England cricket

English Right-arm pacer Chris Woakes has been left out of the 16-man squad for the upcoming Ashes in Australia. The management has given their reasons for excluding the 36-year-old experienced campaigner from he five-match series starting from November 21.

With the retirement of James Anderson, Woakes had taken the responsibility of leading the English pace attack in the summer of 2024 and has performed well under the leadership of Stokes, taking 62 wickets from 17 games at an average of 27.25. The veteran paceman was last seen in the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy, where he had claimed  11 wickets from nine innings before he dislocated his shoulder in the fifth and last Test against India. Though the decision might have come as a surprise to the fans and the experts, considering his performances in the last Ashes series in 2023, where his performances helped England draw the series 2-2. Though there might have been many reasons for this decision, which include giving him some time to recover from injury and his poor numbers in Australia, Key has openly revealed that the veteran pacer is no longer in the future plans of England cricket. 

“It's been as tough a time for someone, I think, in cricket terms, the timing of it (the shoulder dislocation) as much as anything else, and the chance of reoccurence for the immediate future for Chris Woakes,” Key said while announcing England’s Ashes squad.

“He was running out of time to be ready for the start for the Ashes. And then once you get out of an Ashes series, you're often looking at the next cycle, really. So Chris Woakes isn't in our plans at the minute… at all,” he added.

Apart from the exclusion of Woakes, there was another major change within the squad, with Harry Brook being named as Ben Stokes' deputy in place of Ollie Pope. This was another topic on which Key shared his views as well. 

“It's pretty simple, really - we think (Brook) is the best person for the job. He has had more experience now in leadership, and I think that Harry Brook deserves it. There are no other ulterior motives, other than the fact that we think Harry Brook is the best person to be the best vice-captain,” Key explained.

“I think he (Pope) felt that it was coming. Vice-captaincy is not always the most important decision you have to make. We could have gone down the road of not having a vice-captain. When Popey has done it, he's done it well. He's fitted into so many different roles that we've asked him to do over the past few years and done them all well. Harry Brook is just the better leader and will be the better leader going forward, so that's why he gets that job,” the former English cricketer concluded.