It is reasonable to wonder where this England team and the entire Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum project might be without Chris Woakes. Two years ago, with England 2-0 down in a home Ashes, reputations and possibly jobs were on the line. Chris Woakes was recalled when England were staring into the abyss.
Alongside his good mate Mark Wood, Chris Woakes engineered victory at Headingley, the pair in the middle together when the winning runs were hit, then it was Chris Woakes who did most of the work in Stuart Broad’s send-off at The Oval. A 2-2 draw, Chris Woakes the Player of the Series despite only playing three Tests.
Chris Woakes struggle with injuries and his elusive test career
Chris Woakes is back in England’s Playing XI for the first Test against India, which begins on Friday at Headingley. The experienced fast bowler had been out since December 2024 because of an ankle injury he picked up during the series against New Zealand.
Chris Woakes missed the one-off Test against Zimbabwe earlier in May, but made a strong return in the warm-up match for England Lions against India A. In that game, Woakes picked up three wickets in the first innings and added two more in the second, showing good form and troubling India A’s top-order batters with his accurate bowling.
On Friday, Chris Woakes returns to Leeds for the beginning of England’s five-Test series against India. At 36, the oldest player in the squad, he has perhaps never been more important to an England team. Amid the lust for high pace and an attack to win in Australia, it will be Chris Woakes who bowls the first over for the home team, his accuracy and movement most likely to torment an Indian line-up lacking experience in English conditions.
In 2024, Chris Woakes played nine Tests, his second-most in a calendar year in a career that began in 2013. Sam Cook’s indifferent audition against Zimbabwe last month only served to enhance Chris Woakes’ importance.
Chris Woakes is returning from an ankle problem he first felt at the end of England’s tour of New Zealand in December. He says it might have been down to a switch in the boots he was wearing, which he has now changed back. To go straight into the England XI is a contrast to much of Chris Woakes’ career, when he was often competing for the one pace-bowling spot behind Anderson and Broad.
In the summer of 2022, the birth of Bazball, he did not play at all because of a knee injury. Before he underwent surgery, Chris Woakes wondered if his red-ball career was over.
Since Chris Woakes returned, England have won 10 of the 12 Tests he has played and he has taken 51 wickets at an average of 21.88. In the same period, only India’s Jasprit Bumrah, Australia’s Josh Hazlewood and South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada have taken as many wickets at a better average.
Overall, with 1,970 runs and 181 wickets, Chris Woakes is closing in on becoming only the sixth Englishman to do the 2,000-200 double in Tests and will probably do so as the second-fastest in terms of matches, after Ian Botham. He is part of an exclusive club of England players to have won the Ashes and both 20- and 50-over World Cups, including Stokes, Wood, Moeen Ali and Jos Buttler.
Chris Woakes is very effective in English conditions. He knows how to get wickets regularly and bowled. He looks in good form again. India’s squad is quite young, and many players don’t have much experience facing pace and swing in English conditions. Chris Woakes could turn out to be a major threat for them. He has played at all the major venues in the UK and knows how to adapt quickly.
Under the Stokes-McCullum leadership, Chris Woakes has played 12 matches, out of which England have won 10. They lost only one match against Sri Lanka in September 2024 and drew one against Australia in the third Ashes Test of 2023. In England, Chris Woakes has taken 137 wickets in 66 innings at an average of 21.59. His record includes five five-wicket hauls and one ten-wicket haul. Looking at his recent performance against India A, he will be hoping to add more to that in the five-match Test series.
Ahead of England’s opening Test against India in Leeds, the home bowling line-up was under the microscope. Both Chris Woakes and Ben Stokes hadn’t bowled much in the lead-up, and Josh Tongue and Brydon Carse were inexperienced. But over the course of the match, Woakes’ body held up for 43 overs and Stokes’ for 35, and Tongue and Carse scalped a combined 11 wickets. Jofra Archer’s return to Test-match fitness just made everything sweeter.
Having won the series opener by five wickets, the Brits will aim to enhance their lead. Meanwhile, veteran England all-rounder Chris Woakes has previously featured in three Tests at Edgbaston. Chris Woakes Test numbers at Edgbaston are pretty impressive. He has taken 13 wickets across six innings here at a fine average of 24.53, according to ESPNcricinfo.
The pacer has taken three-fers in each of his three Test appearances here – against Australia, West Indies, and Pakistan. A four-fer here, however, is still elusive for Chris Woakes as his best figures read 3/58. With the bat, Woakes has scored 148 runs across five innings at Edgbaston at a fine average of 49.33. Only once he has been dismissed under 35 at this venue as his scores read 9, 3*, 37*, 37, and 62.
Though Chris Woakes managed just a solitary wicket in the series opener, he played an important 38-run knock in the first innings.
During his knock, Woakes became the sixth England all-rounder to complete the rare double of 150 wickets and 2,000 runs in Test cricket.
The feat puts him alongside legends like Ian Botham, Andrew Flintoff, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, and Stuart Broad.Having played 58 Tests Test, Woakes has raced to 2,008 runs at an average of 26.42.
He has one century and seven fifties to his name. On the bowling front, he has claimed 182 wickets at an average of 28.90 with best figures of six for 17. He overall has five five-wicket hauls and a 10-wicket haul in his kitty.
Chris Woakes’s solitary Test hundred came against India in 2018. Overall, he has raced to 358 runs across 10 Tests against them at a decent average of 32.54. The tally also includes a fifty. With the ball, he has taken 24 wickets against them at 38.08. Ahead of the 2nd test vs India , Chris Woakes has opened his mind on serving England and also talked about his retirement plans.
I don’t think I will be playing when I am 41- Chris Woakes
England’s seasoned quick Chris Woakes addressed his retirement plans and declared that he isn’t looking to follow the same path as legendary ageless seamer James Anderson ahead of the second Test against India at Edgbaston
Speaking ahead of the second Test against India at Edgbaston, Woakes opened up his mind about being comparing to James Anderson and his retirement plans
“I’ve played a lot of my England games with Jimmy [Anderson] and Broadie [Broad] so it is different,” Woakes said.
“It’s a great opportunity for myself, I’ve enjoyed that role so far and it’s good to pass on a little bit of knowledge to some younger guys that haven’t played as much Test cricket. And also, I’m learning from them. You’re always on that journey of learning every time you go out there so thoroughly enjoying it.”
Still five years shy of when Anderson retired, Woakes was clear that he wouldn’t be playing as long as the legendary fast-bowler did but felt that a big deal was made about age which, in his opinion, was just a number.
“I don’t think I’ll be playing when I’m 41, particularly for England,” Woakes said.
“Look, I think I’ve tried to get the most out of my career and I’m still in that position where I feel like I’m trying to get better trying to improve every time I go out there, pass on that knowledge.
“As I said, people like to talk about age a lot but at the same time it is just a number. As long as I’m contributing to the team and feel like I’m performing well then I’ll carry on. If one day that time comes where you get a tap on the shoulder, then so be it but at the minute I’m enjoying it.” he continued
In the first match in Leeds, a week ago, India scored five hundreds across the Test. It begged the question of whether the English bowling attack could come up with different plans heading into the Test. With 1,673 runs accumulated across the Test by both teams, Woakes admitted that the flat surface made it a difficult task for the bowlers but picking up 20 wickets was the difference.
“I think we know how good the Indian batters are…they’ve always had great depth waiting, knocking on the doors to come through. Headingley was a pretty good wicket to bat on which made it hard work for the bowlers but obviously we did well in terms of being able to take 20 wickets.
“And when they got ahead of the game with the bat we managed to drag ourselves back into the game which is really important, and a good skill to have but moving forward to here [Birmingham], I’m sure [we are] looking at another good batting surface, there’s good weather around so it might be another hard week for the bowlers but we’ll look at what things that we did well, maybe things that we didn’t do so well, and try and put them right again this week.” he concluded
Chris Woakes has been handed the responsibility of spearheading England’s attack in the ongoing five-match Test series against India. In the first Test, he managed just a solitary scalp of Karun Nair in the second innings. Even though it wasn’t the ideal beginning for Woakes, he will look to scythe more wickets in front of his home crowd at Edgbaston on July 2
England playing XI for the second Test against India: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes (c), Jamie Smith (wk), Chris Woakes, Brydon Carse, Josh Tongue, Shoaib Bashir.
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