Ashes 2023 – Chris Woakes – ‘If you could bottle that feeling forever, you would’

It would be underselling the occasion to say last Sunday’s events at Headingley were a world away, as Woakes’ unbeaten 32 helped England to a target of 251 to keep the Ashes alive. The world itself was a very different place.

Back in 2020, life had come to a sudden, jarring halt due to the Covid-19 pandemic. With the threat of losses for English cricket in the region of £380 million, the ECB created bio-secure bubbles at Emirates Old Trafford and the Ageas Bowl to honour their broadcast deals, subsequently limiting that figure to just over £100 million. All international and domestic fixtures in the 2020 summer were played behind closed doors, meaning the stands were empty for Woakes’ first bout of fourth-innings heroics.

“It literally doesn’t get any better than that, I don’t think,” Woakes said. “The feeling of that roar, the Western Terrace going mad.

“Personally, in my biased opinion, it would have been better if I was doing it in front of the Hollies [at Edgbaston]. It’s pretty special. It’s pretty cool. Amazing feeling. I think you don’t hear the crowd as much out there as you do when you’re on the sides. But, it’s just special. If you could bottle that up forever and come back to it, you would.”

“I don’t know about that, I don’t know about that!” Woakes protested at the assertion his knock was akin to Stokes’ heroics. “I felt a tiny bit about how he felt at Headingley last time round.

“But it’s just amazing to get over the line and beat (Australia). You are always coming into these days believing you’re going to get over the line, but they’re always going to be tight, aren’t they, regardless? You always feel like there’s going to be a twist. I felt like me and Brooky were cruising and he made an unbelievable knock to get 75 and play the way he did. But there was always a twist and I’m just delighted to get over the line.”

Woakes’ first appearance in this series was also his first cap since March 2022, which he had also feared might be his last as England’s 1-0 loss away to the West Indies that followed a 4-0 Ashes defeat. Five wickets at 48.80 in the Caribbean after just six at 55.30 in Australia certainly felt like the end of the road. And though he is rated highly by Stokes who became Test captain at the start of the 2022 summer, a right knee injury which eventually required surgery that ruled him out of the entire home season looked to have set him exclusively on the white-ball path.

Woakes duly ruled himself out for the IPL to tune up with Warwickshire in the County Championship, and looked to be in line for a recall against Ireland until the England management opted to blood Worcestershire’s Josh Tongue instead. He was fully fit for the first two Ashes Tests too, but he bided his time and made a profound impression in his first outing. Along with his runs were figures of three for 73 and three for 68 in the first and second innings respectively, and not a tailender among them, as he claimed the crucial wickets of Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (twice), Usman Khawaja and Alex Carey.

While he always hoped he would add to his 45 caps coming into this summer, Woakes admitted to wondering if his time was up.

“It’s quite emotional actually,” he said. “You sometimes think the ship has sailed, of course you do. Especially when the team is going so well last summer and I wasn’t involved, obviously I had injuries and stuff. You do wonder whether that ship has sailed. But I made a big decision at the start of summer not to go to India and, you know, it’s days like this make that sort of decision pay off, comfortably.”

Given the balance Woakes gives the side, taking some of the bowling strain off Stokes who continues to manage a chronically injured left knee, while lengthening the batting, his place in the XI for the remainder of the series seems like a no-brainer. He proved his durability, too, with 35 overs in the match at a consistent pace, and stepped up when Ollie Robinson was unable to bowl in the second innings.

The fourth Test begins on July 19 and will be Woakes’ first time back to Manchester since that 2020 performance. Though he is not looking too far ahead with regards to keeping his place, he expects England to arrive believing they can continue on what would be a remarkable comeback to win the Ashes. Especially with the pressure on Australia to not let things slip having come into the third Test 2-0 up.

“It’s always been there, in that dressing-room the belief is we can win 3-2,” Woakes said.

“You don’t want to look too far ahead, you have to play what’s in front of you, each ball, each day, each session, each Test match as it comes. I’d imagine when you’re so close to getting something, the harder it gets, and I’m sure the Aussies will be feeling that now. Once you get so close to something, it’s actually hard to get that over the line, isn’t it?

“We’ve got turn up in Manchester and put in another performance. They’re a bloody good side, they’re an extremely good side. We’re going to have to be at our best to beat them again.”