Chris Woakes was long-tipped as James Anderson’s natural successor. Now with Anderson retired, and Woakes well into his thirties, he needs to find his place in a side looking to the future.
Among the hubbub of James Anderson tributes and nostalgia, as well as praise for Gus Atkinson’s record-breaking debut, Chris Woakes’ quiet few days at Lord’s flew under the radar. Woakes bowled 18 overs across the two innings, the same as Ben Stokes and considerably less than both Anderson and Atkinson. His only wicket in the match was courtesy of a screamer from Ollie Pope at short leg, the fourth West Indies wicket to fall in eight balls. For a ‘Lord’s specialist’ – 28 wickets in six matches at the venue with an average of 12.35 – it was by far his least successful outing there.
Woakes occupies a strange position in the England Test side. Having struggled to maintain his place in the XI over the last couple of years, contending with injury and the emergence of Ollie Robinson, he now finds himself the de-facto leader of the attack. Of the 29 Tests England have played since the beginning of 2022, Woakes has featured in only eight; but of England seamers who have played more than two Test matches in that time period, only Anderson and Stuart Broad have taken their wickets at a lower average. With both now retired, it’s a golden opportunity for Woakes to continue the renaissance he started last summer.
Having not featured in the first two Ashes Tests of last year, Woakes finished as England’s player of the series with 19 wickets – second only to Broad among his teammates – and two crucuial cameos at Headingley and The Oval. It was a welcome step into the foreground at a pivotal time in the changing of the guard, for a bowler who has always, to some degree, played second (or third) fiddle.
But, as soon as he took the step into that limelight, he was back out of it again. A disastrous World Cup in India lost Woakes the title of England’s ‘Mr Reliable’ in the ODI format and, as expected, he wasn’t picked for the following Test series in India. He also wasn’t picked for England’s T20 World Cup title defence in the Caribbean, and had only played four matches for Warwickshire coming into the Test summer having taken a break from the game following the death of his father.
In that context and with England’s desire to look ahead to the upcoming away Ashes crystal clear, it is reasonable to question whether Woakes should be in England’s Test side going forward at all, despite his returns last summer. Australia has never been an easy hunting ground for him: while almost every other England seamer has also struggled there over the last decade, Woakes’ difficulties have been particularly pronounced. He has 16 wickets in seven away Ashes Tests at an average of over 50 and a strike rate nearing 100. If it wasn’t in Stokes and McCullum’s minds to pick him for the India series, it should be an even more obvious choice not to take him to Australia.
But, in contrast to his acceptance at the end of last summer that he wouldn’t play in India, Woakes himself has stated his openness to an away Ashes tour. "I just don't rule anything out," he said in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. "It'd be hard for me to stand here and say I'll be the opening bowler in that Ashes, obviously my away record probably isn't as good as my home. But at the same time, I've looked at Stu and Jimmy evolve as they've got older, and I still hope that I can potentially do the same.”
If Woakes is to go to Australia and finally take his place as England’s attack leader after playing most of his Test career in Broad and Anderson’s huge shadows, this summer is pivotal. With several more debuts beckoning for seam prospects over the next five matches, the ones who will make it out of the summer as incumbents are hard to read. But Woakes is by far the most experienced of any of them, and having lost 355 Test matches worth of experience over their last two home matches, Woakes’ 49 suddenly looks a lot more valuable.
Whatever England’s current thought process towards how heavy their focus on building an attack for Australia will be over the next 18 months, there’s a lot of Tests to play in the meantime. Aside from the five remaining this summer, England will play three Tests in Pakistan and three in New Zealand before the year is out. They also have a five-Test series against India next summer, by when Woakes will be 37. Even without going to Australia, those series are a huge opportunity for Woakes to build his legacy in the post-Anderson age, as the attack leader he’s waited over a decade to be.
Woakes is set to play his 50th Test match at Trent Bridge. Of England quicks who played fewer than 50 Test matches, only three have taken more wickets at a lower average than Woakes (John Snow, Syd Barnes and Angus Fraser). If he is to emulate Broad and Anderson in entering the second half of his thirties with a flourish, there’s never been a better or more important time for him to do it.
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