By the time the summer started, Chris Woakes feared his Test career was over. He had just returned from a frustrating tour of South Africa and, aged 27, suspected the selectors might look elsewhere. That trip could have turned out differently. Playing in the first Test at Durban because of an injury to James Anderson, Woakes found the edge of Hashim Amla’s bat in his first spell, only for Jonny Bairstow to drop the chance. He bowled tidily for the rest of the match but, when Anderson returned for the next game, Woakes made way.

Chris Woakes took a while to establish himself in international cricket, but after a breakthrough summer, he was named a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 2017.

It was an episode that seemed to sum up his career. Nobody doubted his character. But it appeared he might be one of Test cricket’s nearly men, not quite able to bridge the gap from the county game. Recalled for the final Test, at Centurion, but lacking rhythm after three weeks without a match and aware his future was on the line, he produced a nervy performance, taking 1-144 as England succumbed to defeat. For the first time in his Test career, he felt he had let himself down. In six matches his bowling average was 63.

A disappointing World Cup had not helped. The 2016 summer started badly too: he describes learning of his friend James Taylor’s illness as “my worst moment in the game”. But it ended with the pair planning to be ushers at each other’s weddings, and Woakes established as a first-choice player in the Test side. And, at a time when the modern face of sport often wears a snarl, he provided a reminder that nice guys can reach the top. “My dream was always to play for Warwickshire,” he says. “But it has gone better than I could have imagined.”