As many of you will know by now, we put together a prospective England XI at the start of the season to track the progress of county players in the running to the make the step up to the international side this summer.
It’s been a mixed bag for our elected elite thus far, but one man has stood head and shoulders above the rest in the early tussles, emerging as the undisputed leader of the pack. At the time of writing Chris Woakes is joint top wicket-taker in Division One of the Championship and fifth in the runscorers list
In light of this blistering start to the season AOC thought it was time for a more comprehensive profile of the Warwickshire youngster. Phil Kenworthy digs deeper.
Chris Woakes the bowler has been on the England radar for a little while now. Prior to making his England ODI and T20 debuts in the winter, Woakes had represented England under 19s and England Lions (doing particularly well for the latter) and he has done his international credentials no harm at all in the early weeks of the 2011 season, taking 17 Championship wickets at 17 apiece. He has also displayed a taste for the match-changing performance; 12 of those wickets came in the form of two 6-fers; the first (6-85) ripped out Somerset’s powerful middle-order, while the second (6-49) secured Warwickshire’s win at Worcester.
However, perhaps even more exciting from an England perspective is the way that Woakes the batsman has been putting bowlers to the sword. His run tally stands at 246, and that for just two dismissals, giving him a more than handy average of 123.00. His superb run-a-ball 129 against a decent looking Somerset attack set the tone for Warwickshire’s dominance of that match, while his unbeaten 70 in the ongoing clash against Durham could yet prove crucial.
The batting achievements come as no surprise to Brian Halford, cricket writer for the Birmingham Mail: “Chris is an exceptional batsman,” he says, “a potential jewel”. It may well be this development of his second suit that propels Woakes to further international honours, especially in the limited-overs arena, where England have been conspicuously short of a genuine allrounder since Flintoff’s retirement.
Luke Wright’s wide-eyed enthusiasm has never translated into international pedigree, and given Woakes’ current form one can’t help but feel that the selectors might finally have to admit that Wright’s chance has been and gone. If Woakes is picked, it will be at the expense of an allrounder, and in the hope that he can provide a balance in the side that was lacking in the World Cup, when England found themselves overly reliant on Ravi Bopara’s medium-pacers.
Whilst his boisterous batting suggests coloured clothing, Woakes bowling is more suited to the red ball. He relies primarily on swing and a decent slip cordon for his wickets, and bowls at a Hoggard-esque pace that, on occasion, can disappear in limited-overs cricket: “He’s at his best in first-class cricket when he gets full value for his better balls,” says Brian. Test Match selection will be a hard nut to crack though.
Woakes’ superior batting will count for less in the five-day equation, and England’s fast bowling production line has been so prolific of late that Anderson, Bresnan, Broad, Tremlett, Finn and Shahzad are all competing for places. Even so, no one is pushing harder than Woakes, and should his winter exploits be anything to go by, the pressure of the call wouldn’t faze him. Watch this space.
Follow Chris Woakes’ progress via Brian Halford’s Warwickshire Cricket Blog
