Chris Woakes: Bears' England all-rounder unsure about return

Chris Woakes is just five short of taking 300 first-class wickets for Warwickshire

Warwickshire all-rounder Chris Woakes is on the mend after the foot injury which caused him to miss England's current tour to the Caribbean, but is still unsure about his return date.

Woakes suffered a metatarsal stress reaction, ruling him out of England's final World Cup game with Afghanistan.

He was expected to be available when England take on New Zealand in a two-match home Test series in May.

"It's hard to put a timeframe on when I'll make my comeback," said Woakes.

"It depends on how it reacts when I start bowling in the next week or two.

"It has been quite slow progress, but it is coming on quite well. It has been full weight-bearing for about three weeks and I started running this week."

Meanwhile Moeen Ali proved his fitness for the tour by playing in Worcestershire's opening County Championship game this week.

But, although recovering more slowly than expected, Woakes insists that being allowed to join the tour late was never an option and the only immediate target for the Aston Villa fan is being at Wembley on Sunday to watch his team play Moeen's beloved Liverpool in the FA Cup semi-final.

"Being ruled out of the West Indies tour has given me that little bit of extra time to get it right," said Woakes, speaking as Warwickshire's representative at Thursday's T20 Blast press launch day at Edgbaston. "And it's nice to have that extra break.

"I went down to the QPR game last Tuesday night and I'll be at Wembley to watch the Villa on Sunday."