Forget the what-ifs and the what-might-bes and revel in Chris Woakes’ Ashes

It’s in Woakes’ nature to shirk the limelight, to recede into the scenery lest he draw the attention away from someone else. A fan tells a story of bumping into Woakes and James Anderson and asking for a picture, only for Woakes to take the camera, assuming that it was England’s leading Test wicket-taker alone that he wanted a snap with.

Nothing England have achieved this series would have been possible without Woakes, and yet he has never been the story. Even when recalled at Headingley, it was Mark Wood’s name on the teamsheet that grabbed the eye. Woakes claimed three wickets on that first day, but it was Wood’s speed-of-sound four-for and Mitch Marsh’s speed-of-light century that dominated. Woakes would hit the winning boundary, but his six wickets and 42 runs were trumped by Wood’s seven and 40 in the Player of the Match stakes.

Come Old Trafford, and Woakes was even better, taking a first Ashes five-for to keep Australia to 317 on a flat wicket. But again, no one was talking about him. Zak Crawley blazed before the drizzle, and that was that. Ashes gone.

Here, you didn’t expect anyone to talk about Woakes. He was, as he always is in England, exceptional. In the first innings, he claimed the first wicket to end a budding opening stand, saw off the top scorer, and indulged himself in a tailend scalp for the first time in the series – one out of 15 to this point.

But none of that matters when the greatest scene-stealer of them all chooses to make this the stage of his grand exit. Stuart Broad had already, literally, magicked up a key breakthrough on the second morning, and it didn’t even matter that it wasn’t him bowling. The crowds thronged in their bandanas, ready to celebrappeal along with him. But for 40 overs, England fans feared they might be witnessing another swansong. David Warner eased to fifty – his ninth on these shores – the rain, when it came, was a relief, giving an evening to reflect and gather themselves.

The vital blow, however, had come 12 balls previously. Mark Wood claimed one wicket all innings, but still had an impact, clanging Usman Khawaja on the helmet, denting the ball in the process, with the ‘replacement’ ball suspiciously new. Crucially, on the final morning, England started with Woakes. And he was irresistible.

As if between two frames of an umpire review, the game had changed. No longer was run-scoring routine and chances hard to come by. Instead, Woakes was all over Australia. An lbw appeal against Khawaja came in the first over. Not out, just outside leg. The second saw off Warner, nicked off by a crackerjack, Woakes having his number for the fourth time in four innings.

Marnus Labuschagne was beaten, and then Khawaja was gone, Woakes learning from the previous lbw near-miss, going that bit fuller, banking on the movement to bring it back in line, and scything through. Steve Smith and Labuschagne either edged or were beaten before Wood came in and the pressure told, the latter nicking to second slip. Australia were 169-3 and England were favourites again. After one more over, Woakes’ spell was done.

Australia regrouped and made it through to lunch without further loss. Then came the rain, threatening to deprive this series of another grandstand finish, and instead bringing time back into the equation. An early tea was taken. Fifty-two overs, later revised down to 47, were to be bowled. One session, but over half a day’s play. Seven wickets or 146 runs. Everything rested on this. England’s unbeaten series record under Ben Stokes, and unbeaten Ashes record at home since 2001, the moral Ashes, the referendum on Bazball, the very fate of Test cricket as we know it. Some of that is true, and some of it is only in England’s heads.

With all that swirling, Stokes threw the ball not to Anderson, the greatest of them all, or Wood, the fastest in the world, or Broad, ready to write his own script one last time. Instead, he entrusted the final opening burst of the series to Christopher Roger Woakes.

Four balls in, Smith is beaten. Two plays and misses come in Woakes’ next over, but Australia seem to be riding out the storm. Smith dives gloriously on the up to reach 49. In the next over, bowled by Moeen Ali, he brings up fifty. Was this to be the story? England’s arch destroyer, in his last away Ashes innings, making a first fourth-innings hundred to seal a first overseas Ashes win in two generations? One ball later, Moeen finds turn and bite from the rough, and Travis Head nicks off. But still Smith is still there.

By the end of the next over, he isn’t. This wicket is Woakes’ crowning glory and calling card, the best since the best having pasted fifty, after which point he gets to a hundred more often than not, when it matters most. And he’s not even trying to score this time. That ‘new’ ball can’t be blamed now. Nor is this temperament, or pressure, or any buzzword. This is simply an exceptional bowler nipping a ball away on a fourth-stump line, and proving too good for one of the best to ever do it.

The dam is burst and two more wickets pour through. Mitch Marsh falls to a Bairstow speccie. Woakes sees off Mitchell Starc. He bowls two more overs and fades into the background once more. His figures for the day read 4-45 in 14 overs.

Broad gets his moment. One last piece of trickery, and one last airplane into the sunset. But none of this is possible without Woakes, who ends with a personal scoreline of 2-0, who has been the biggest difference between the sides in the three games he has played, and who is deservedly named Player of the Match and Series.

There was significant recognition of his worth here, with him entrusted over Anderson for the two pivotal passages. With the man Woakes has for so long been destined to replace now perhaps finally on the wane, and Broad gone for good, barring one last piece of hoodwinkery, it’s tempting to wonder what Woakes’ role might be going forward. The home and away dichotomy is known, and whatever caveats there might be wilt under the glare of the statistical sunlamp. But has he really been this good before? Has he ever been a distance ahead of his teammates, like he was in this series? Can a player this skillful, who has mastered red and white, really not find a way to contribute if it’s just a bit flatter? Come India, and England might be ready to be hurt one more time. Maybe this could be the tour?

And it’s impossible not to ask ‘what if?’ What if Woakes had been involved from the start, rather than coming in with no margin for error, when not even his superhuman efforts were enough? But, apart from a few shouts on behalf of his Lord’s record, there was no clamour for him early in the series. That’s what has made this so special. West Indies felt like a full stop, with his knee injury in the 2022 summer an emphatic re-inking of that fact. Now we have the perfect coda that could be something more.

Throughout this series, and his whole career, Woakes has rarely, if ever, been England’s main man. But while he didn’t complete the win or the five-for at the Kia Oval, he was the most important player at the most important moment. For right now, that’s all that matters.