Woakes proves doubters wrong with big wickets on Day Three of Test

Chris Woakes continues to prove doubters wrong with crucial wickets on Day Three of the third Ashes Test – as recalled seamer stakes claim for inclusion in England squad for the rest of the series

• Chris Woakes replaced veteran Jimmy Anderson for the third Ashes Test in Leeds
• Woakes’ last Test match outing for England was in 2022 against the West Indies
• Follow MailSport on Threads here: https://www.threads.net/@mailsport

As Chris Woakes took the big wickets of Mitchell Marsh and Alex Carey on the rain-delayed third evening of another gripping Ashes battle, it was strange to think that his previous Test had taken place in a time before Bazball.

It was March 2022 in Grenada, and the dying days of the Joe Root era, when Woakes was handed the deflating task of opening the bowling against a West Indies team who needed 28 to clinch the series.

They won by 10 wickets and that, for Root, was that. And when Woakes underwent knee surgery that summer to ensure he was fit for England’s successful tilt at the T20 World Cup in Australia, he drifted almost unnoticed out of the Test-match conversation.

Was he even a Bazball cricketer, with his penchant for English-style line and length, and his orthodox neatness at No 7 or 8? Increasingly, these questions didn’t seem to matter.

And yet when he was put up to speak to the media two days before the first Test of the summer, against Ireland at Lord’s, it seemed he was all set for only his second home Test in three years.

Woakes was recalled to the England team for the third Test, replacing veteran Jimmy Anderson

Woakes’ last Test match outing for England came in Grenada in 2022 against the West Indies

Woakes has stepped up with crucial wickets in the Ashes Test after being recalled to the side

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Woakes certainly felt ready. ‘I always try to have the feeling that you’re going to play the game as if it’s your last, and leave everything out there,’ he said, itching to get stuck into the Irish.

Meanwhile, Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes had enjoyed what they had seen in the nets from Worcestershire quick Josh Tongue, and picked him instead. In the circumstances, it felt like a cruel twist.

But Woakes is nothing if not the consummate pro, and bided his time as a popular squad member. As the Ashes began, he missed out at his home ground, Edgbaston, then came close to playing at Lord’s, where his figures conjure up thoughts of the greatest all-rounder in Test history: batting and bowling averages of 61 and 11.

Come Headingley, with Jimmy Anderson in need of a rest and Ben Stokes still exhausted from his 12-over spell in the second Test, Bazball England finally called for Woakes. Match figures of six for 141 tell you he has not let them down.

In Australia’s first-innings 263, he removed Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Marsh – three prize scalps. In their second-innings 224, his victims were Usman Khawaja – a batsman who has faced 908 balls in the series, twice as many as anyone else – followed on Saturday by Marsh and Carey.

While others have boosted their figures by knocking over tailenders, Woakes’s six wickets here have all come from the top seven. Captains and coaches notice these things.

Had Joe Root not dropped Marsh at slip 12 runs into his eventual 118 shortly after lunch on the first day, Woakes might now be looking like something close to a match-winner. It is a moment they will hope they are not forced to revisit as they resume their pursuit of 251.

Woakes led England’s attack when play resumed after got the key wicket of Mitchell Marsh

Woakes’ dismissal of Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey was his 100th Test wicket in Engand

It was instructive, too, that Stokes opened the bowling with Woakes on Saturday after rain delayed the start until 4.45. The pitch was fresh, the clouds grey, the lights on: if this wasn’t a scenario made for him, what was?

He rose to the challenge. Marsh was caught behind for 28, and Carey bowled for five – both undone as they tried to leave the ball outside off stump. It was probing rather than destructive, and it was just what England needed.

Carey was Woakes’s 100th Test wicket in this country, and they have come at a cost of just 22. By way of comparison, Anderson’s Test wickets in England have come at 24, and Stuart Broad’s at 25. With the Dukes ball, in the right conditions, Woakes – even at 34 – is as dangerous as they come.

It’s been away from home that has been the problem, with flat pitches and the unhelpful Kookaburra ball conspiring to neuter a bowler who operates in the low-to-mid 80mphs and appreciates whatever lateral movement he can get. 

Outside England, his 36 wickets have come at 51. It feels as if that ship has sailed, and there is no shame in that.

But on days such as this, with Woakes cruising in at the spiritual home of swing and seam, there are few others you’d rather have at the wheel.

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