Cricket World Cup 2019: Chris Woakes says England have to be flexible if they want to win tournament

Injuries meant Woakes had to bat at three and Joe Root was required to take two wickets in their win against the West Indies

Chris Woakes has warned England they will have to get used to being flexible with their squad if they want to win the World Cup.

England were forced to promote Woakes to bat at three after injuries to Jason Roy and Eoin Morgan saw the high-scoring duo drop down the order during England’s eight-wicket win against the West Indies.

Woakes holds the record for the highest score by a number eight, 95* in Nottingham against Sri Lanka in 2016, so is no stranger to the bat and he joined Joe Root in the middle to complete the run chase after Jonny Bairstow was dismissed.

Woakes, who opens the bowling, unexpectedly delivered with bat, scoring 40 off 54, but was not alone in impressing when used out of position.

With England’s usual middle-over bowlers struggling to dent Shimron Hetymer and Nicholas Pooran’s steady fourth-wicket partnership, Morgan tossed the ball to Root - and the Test captain, and scorer of a match-winning 100, duly delivered with two wickets.

England may choose to rest players with slight injury complaints against Afghanistan, and the depth of the squad and the number of players that can play in different roles to a good level will be key as they progress through the tournament, says Woakes.

“In a World Cup things aren’t always going to go to plan,” he said. “When it’s a series you can call people in at your will and play them when you want. Within a World Cup it’s always going to be a squad effort no matter how long it is.”

Morgan (back) and Roy (hamstring) both went for scans on their injuries following the conclusion of the game and will be assessed before a decision can be made about them playing on Tuesday. In their place will likely be James Vince and Moeen Ali.

“There’s always going to be other players who have to play at some point. If they (Morgan and Roy) are not quite ready we have to be flexible. We did that today and hopefully we can continue to do that moving forward.”

Joe Root opened the batting and Chris Woakes came in at three (Action Images via Reuters)

With England’s opener, Roy, going off injured in the field and only being allowed to return to bat at seven, there was brief talk of Woakes opening the batting.

“There was the odd whisper of me opening the batting but that didn’t last long,” he said. “I was more than happy to do that job for the team, the plan was to keep the middle order settled and not to move too many people around. Thankfully we were chasing 200, if it was 300 we might have been a bit more nervous.

“I didn’t wake up in the morning expecting to bat at number three, so I’m just pleased it went well and we picked up two points as well.”

Luckily for Woakes England were in a good position and he had the best view in the Hampshire Bowl to admire Root’s 100 of 106 balls.

“I’ve batted a few times with him in Test matches, he’s a world-class player so to watch him operate from the other end is great. It was probably one of his quicker hundreds.

“To do it the way he did it was fantastic, to be at the other end with a box office seat was nice.

“Thankfully I did a good job for the team,” he added before joking that he will ask to play there again against Afghanistan at Old Trafford. “I’ll just be reminding Morgs I did alright at three.