“We are paid very well and looked after by the ECB and the PCA”

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Chris Woakes is confident that England won’t experience the same kind of pay dispute that is going on between the Australian players and Cricket Australia.

The Australian players want the fixed revenue-percentage payment model retained, but Cricket Australia want to restructure it.

With both sides refusing to budge, opening batsman and Test vice-captain David Warner admitted that Australia “might not have a team for the Ashes”.

He added that the players are ready to turn to domestic Twenty20 competitions if they find themselves out of contract.

However, Woakes doesn’t see England having a similar problem.

“It’s not on our radar – we are paid very well and looked after by the ECB and the PCA,” he said. “What lies ahead lies ahead, and we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

“It sounds like the [Australia] players are standing firm for what they believe in. If it gets to the stage where the Ashes are under threat, of course it would be a shame for it to not go ahead. It’s the pinnacle…but we are concentrating on what comes next.”

Meanwhile, Woakes revealed that even though he was encouraged to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this year, where he represented the Kolkata Knight Riders, his main focus will always be on international cricket.

“You want to do both, but the be-all and end-all is playing for your country,” Woakes, who missed the recent two-match ODI series against Ireland, said. “I would never turn my back on a tour unless the decision is taken above me.

“[ECB director] Andrew Strauss and [coach] Trevor Bayliss were keen for us to go and miss those games. If it came down to them wanting us to stay, you would stay.

“It’s a Catch 22, but I’m sure a balance will be struck – and 99 per cent of the time international cricket will take precedence.”