Had bad light not intervened at the Oval 10 years ago to a chorus of dismay, Chris Woakes might well have tasted the high of hitting the winning runs in an Ashes Test before last Sunday.
But then his Test career since that thwarted run chase on debut in 2013, one that has coincided with those of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, plus the mighty Ben Stokes in the all-rounder stakes, has required a good deal of patience along the way; one of the many virtues that had so many rooting for the Brummie Botham at Headingley.
Those scenes, as Woakes crashed Mitchell Starc square for four to secure England’s three-wicket win, also rewarded the nostalgists among them; the Western Terrace rising as one – bar the pockets of green and gold – and Nasser Hussain calling the slo-mo replay that followed like he did Stokes in 2019. “I felt a tiny bit how [Ben] felt at Headingley last time round,” Woakes said. “It was just amazing to get over the line and beat them.”
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In the general delight at a spell-binding series being still alive going into the fourth Test at Old Trafford next week, it is easy to forget this immaculate six-wicket, 42-run outing was a first for Woakes in the so-called “Bazball” era. Indeed, despite that Dukes ball specialism, now 100 wickets at 22 runs apiece at home, he had started to wonder if the role of drinks waiter would be his lot this summer, having missed the 2022 season with a knee injury.
“It’s quite emotional,” he said. “You sometimes think the ship has sailed, of course you do. Especially when the team was going so well last summer and I wasn’t involved. But I made a big decision at the start of summer not to go to the Indian Premier League and it’s days like this that make that sort of decision pay off, comfortably.
“The feeling of that roar, the Western Terrace going mad. Maybe it would have been better if I was doing it in front of the Hollies Stand [at Edgbaston, his home ground]. But it’s pretty special. If you could bottle that up for ever and come back to it, you would.”
Woakes fancied his performance “got the rewards it deserved”, but that is as far as the ego goes with this one. He could easily swagger about with two World Cup winners’ medals, but he remains remarkably modest. Even that nod to the IPL highlights a Twenty20 career on his own terms; Woakes has been there, bought the holiday cottage and honed his skills with typical professionalism, but England has always been No 1.
This probably goes back to the 16-year-old Warwickshire academy kid who was starry-eyed while dutifully helping the ground staff with the covers during Edgbaston’s famous 2005 Ashes Test. Eighteen years on, the next few days are a case of being rested and massaged like a wagyu cow before Old Trafford, he and his carpool buddy, Mark Wood – 13 wickets and 92 runs between them in Leeds – now central to hopes of a full-blown turnaround.
At 34 and 33 respectively, they also make up what is a seasoned bowling stable in this England squad. Anderson is 41 this month, Broad just turned 37, while Moeen Ali is 36. Josh Tongue, 24, is an ambitious new kid who will swap Worcestershire for Nottinghamshire’s Test facilities next winter, while Ollie Robinson, 29, appears to have slipped back into a maddening case of a hugely talented player not giving himself the best chance.
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There is a piece to be written about what follows the ultra-professional elder statesman; whether the English system will still produce seamers dedicated enough to take the harder path to Test recognition. Equally, there is another must-win Test around the corner, set up by a prime example of the qualities we’re talking about here.
“It’s always been there,” Woakes said, when asked about the optimism that has resulted from the victory. “In that dressing room the belief is we can win 3-2. But you don’t want to look too far ahead, you have to play what’s in front of you, each ball, each day, each session, each Test as it comes.
“Once you get so close to something, it’s hard to get that over the line, isn’t it? I’m sure the Aussies will be feeling that now. We’ve got to turn up in Manchester and put in another performance. They’re a bloody good side. We’re going to have to be at our best to beat them again.”
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