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

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.

“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.