LAWRENCE BOOTH: It's not a stretch to say this Ashes belongs to Woakes

LAWRENCE BOOTH: Chris Woakes saved his best for the series’ final day to help England secure a draw… it would not be too much of a stretch to say this Ashes belonged to him

• Chris Woakes had a massive influence on England during the Ashes series 
• He missed both Tests they lost, before winning two of the three that he played in
• Woakes was named as the Player of the Match and Player of the Series 

It would be a stretch to describe this as Woakes’s Ashes. But not too much of a stretch. When he didn’t play, England lost two out of two. When he did, they won two, and in between were denied victory only by a Manchester monsoon. Feel free to draw your own conclusions.

By the end, this most modest of athletes was soaking up the adulation and the awards on the Oval outfield, and explaining that he ‘didn’t feel in great rhythm’ when the selectors chose him for the third Test at Headingley. Pushed, he conceded this was ‘up there with my best moments in Test cricket’.

In three Tests, he picked up 19 wickets at 18 apiece, saving his best for the series’ final day. 

At 140 without loss, Australia were settling in to their mammoth chase of 384, but Ben Stokes had opened with the two bowlers he thought likeliest to trip them up. With Jimmy Anderson off-colour and Mark Wood struggling with a heel injury, that meant Woakes and Stuart Broad.

Woakes did not disappoint. With the second ball of his second over, he produced a beauty to have David Warner caught behind for 60. And with the second ball of his third, he moved one the other way, trapping Usman Khawaja leg-before for 72. From nowhere, England had momentum and belief.

Chris Woakes was named as the England Player of the Series despite featuring in just three of the five Ashes Tests – with England losing the two Tests that Woakes was not part of the action

In three tests, Woakes picked up 19 wickets 18 apiece – saving his best display for the final day

And when a fourth-wicket stand of 95 between Steve Smith and Travis Head helped Australia recover to 264 for three, it was Woakes again – this time in the company of his close friend Moeen Ali – who triggered their demise.

The over after Ali had Head caught at slip, Woakes delivered the hammer blow, persuading Smith into a big drive that was expertly held by Zak Crawley at second slip. Ali snared Mitchell Marsh, Woakes snaffled Mitchell Starc. Broad applied the coup de grace, as destiny seemed to demand, but it was Woakes who did the gruntwork.

His 113 Test wickets in England have come at 21 each. At the age of 34, he still has at least a couple of home summers left in the tank, even if a meaningful career abroad has probably passed him by.

But this wasn’t a day to quibble. Woakes, Birmingham’s very own ‘Wizard’, was basking in it all. ‘It’s been an amazing few days,’ he said. ‘I want to play as much cricket for England as possible. You don’t get this feeling anywhere else in the world.’

Woakes provided a number of big moments in the final Test to help England draw the series 

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