"International cricket can be draining at the best of times because there's so much pressure on you to perform. There's always people knocking on the door"
Tuesday 10 March 2020 16:45, UK
Chris Woakes admits his England T20 days are probably over as the side build for the short-form World Cup in Australia later this year.
Woakes, 31, has been a mainstay of the 50-over side and picked up 16 wickets in the World Cup last summer as England went on to win the title.
But the seamer has played only eight T20 internationals - and none since 2015 - and says it will probably take a raft of injuries for him to return.
"If I felt like I had real good opportunity to be in that T20 squad I'd probably still go to the IPL and try to produce some good form," said Woakes, who withdrew from the IPL last week having been signed by Delhi Capitals.
"(The selectors) know what I'm about and what I can do but realistically it'd probably take a few injuries for me to be in contention.
"I suppose I don't know the answer to why that happened. I think it happened gradually. The 50-over World Cup was prioritised, which was right, and during that period I was rested during a lot of T20 series."
Woakes, who has played 101 ODIs, added: "Would I want to change that or have it any other way? No, because it meant that I focused more on 50-over cricket and that has made me a World Cup winner - you can't take that away.
"Hopefully I've extended my career rather than trying to spread it across all three formats."
Woakes is part of England's squad for the two-Test series in Sri Lanka, which starts in Galle on March 19, live on Sky Sports, and says his decision to pull out of the IPL was made with international cricket in mind.
"I want to play for England as long as possible - that's still the pinnacle for me," added the all-rounder, who took two wickets in England's drawn first warm-up game in Sri Lanka.
"I just feel like I'd been on a bit of a treadmill and I needed to get off for a bit of a breather. From a mental point of view it's about recharging those batteries.
"The IPL is great but I've been there and done it. That's not to say I don't want to do it again but at this moment England is the most important thing to me, as well as spending time at home with the family where I can.
"You don't put yourself into these things intending to pull out. I went into the IPL auction hoping that I would get picked up, it's a great experience. But it's impossible to do everything.
"International cricket can be draining at the best of times because there's so much pressure on you to perform. There's always people knocking on the door and to stay on top of your game all year round is hard.
"The schedule has just got busier and busier - the only breaks you really get in international cricket are at IPL time."
Watch England's two-Test series in Sri Lanka live on Sky Sports Cricket from 4am on Thursday, March 19.
