England players ‘desperate’ to travel to Australia for Ashes, says Woakes

The
ECB
confirmed
on
Friday
that
the
tour
–
due
to
start
at
The
Gabba
on
December
8
–
would
go
ahead
“subject
to
several
critical
conditions”
being
met
regarding
travel,
quarantine
and
‘bubble’ arrangements.

Captain
Joe
Root
and
deputy
Jos
Buttler
are
among
the
players
that
had
previously
stated
they
were
not
ready
to
commit
to
the
series
due
to
uncertainty
over
COVID-19
restrictions.

But
while
still
holding
some
reservations
concerning
the
logistical
side
of
the
tour,
Woakes
is
looking
forward
to
travelling
to
Australia
after
being
named
in
England’s
17-man
group
on
Sunday.

“There
is
no
player
that
does
not
want
to
be
part
of
the
Ashes,” he
told
BBC
Radio
5
Live.

“Behind
the
scenes
there
are
still
things
being
ironed
out
between
all
sorts
of
levels.
I
think
the
players
are
relatively
relaxed
and
the
guys
are
desperate
to
go.

“But
we
want
to
be
under
the
best
sort
of
conditions
possible
so
we
can
still
live
our
lives
outside
of
cricket.”

Woakes,
who
has
made
39
Test
appearances
for
England,
is
one
of
five
players
to
have
been
named
in
both
the
Ashes
and
T20
World
Cup
squads.

While
the
focus
is
largely
on
the
showdown
with
Australia,
Woakes
will
not
let
that
influence
his
preparations
for
the
World
Cup,
which
begins
later
this
week.
“It’s
exciting
that
there
is
an
Ashes
series
around
the
corner,
but
there
is
a
small
thing
of
the
World
Cup
first,
so
obviously
I
have
my
eyes
firmly
on
that,”
he
told
reporters.

“We
have
a
T20
World
Cup
to
focus
on
and
prep
for
and
as
soon
as
that
is
done
and
dusted
our
attention
will
shift.

“We
have
no
choice
–
you
don’t
want
to
get
to
the
end
of
a
World
Cup
and
think
‘I
wasn’t
fully
engaged’.

“We
have
to
give
this
our
full
attention
–
what
is
going
on
with
the
Ashes
is
on
the
back
burner
and
with
the
people
who
are
making
the
decisions,
kind
of
dealing
with
that
on
our
behalf.
You
can’t
get
too
fixated
on
that.

“It
is
important
we
focus
on
the
here
and
now.
It
is
a
great
opportunity
to
win
some
silverware
for
your
country.
The
Ashes
stuff
will
have
to
be
parked.”