England captain Ollie Pope has backed Chris Woakes to lead the attack in Pakistan and rewrite his reputation as a poor traveller.
The disparity between Woakes’ home and away statistics is well known – he boasts 137 wickets at 21.59 in English conditions versus just 36 at 51.88 on the road – and he has not played an overseas Test in the last two-and-a-half years.
But with Stuart Broad and James Anderson now retired, he has found a new lease of life as the side’s senior bowler and is ready to front up in the series opener in Multan.
And Pope, who continues to captain the team in the absence of the injured Ben Stokes, has no doubts that the 35-year-old is an old dog with some new tricks.
“It’s great for us to have Woakesy on tour, he’s a guy you always want in your England team and he’s been working hard on his game to find different ways of taking wickets on different surfaces,” said Pope.
“I know he’s been chatting to all the guys and working really hard on how he can find a way of taking wickets with the Kookaburra ball on some less responsive pitches. I think that shows where he’s at – he’s still got that real hunger and desire to play a lot more Test cricket, which is brilliant for us (when we’re) missing Jimmy and Stuart Broad.
“It’s a great opportunity for him to fill in that role and use the skills that he’s got. He’s been looking to constantly improve his game. he’s got some different options, different angles and skills he can go and use throughout this series.”
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