Chris Woakes

Early life

Woakes was born in March 1989 in Birmingham, and attended Barr Beacon Language College from 2000–2007. He began playing cricket when he was seven years old. He started out with Aston Manor Cricket Club, and then moved to Walmley Cricket Club to play a higher level of 1st Team cricket. He then played three games in the 2006 Minor Counties Trophy for Herefordshire, and for Warwickshire's under-15, under-17, Academy and Second XI teams between 2004 and 2007. He obtained 10 GCSEs including A's in Health and Social, Childcare, Hospitality and Business.

Personal life

Chris married his long term girlfriend Amie on 10 February 2017.

Career

Woakes represented Warwickshire in one match during the 2006 season, during a West Indian tour of England. Woakes picked up three wickets in the match. He has since represented Warwickshire in the Second XI Championship.

He was a regular for the Warwickshire First XI in 2008. He took 42 wickets at an average of 20.57 over the course of the County Championship season, topping Warwickshire's bowling averages.

On 6 April 2009, Woakes was given a call up to the England Cricket squad for the World Twenty20 in June. Allan Donald tipped Woakes as a future England international cricketer. Woakes was then chosen to play for the England Lions in a warm-up match against the West Indies. In the first innings, he achieved bowling figures of 6–43 (including the wickets of Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul) as the West Indies were bowled out for 203. During the same season he scored 131 not out against Hampshire, his maiden first-class century, batting at number nine and sharing a 222-run partnership with Jonathan Trott. In an England Lions game against Australia Woakes was able to pick up the wickets of Ricky Ponting and Mike Hussey.

Woakes claimed his 200th first-class wicket in Warwickshire's victory over Sussex in the County Championship in July 2011.

2011–2012 Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa

Woakes made his International Twenty20 debut on 12 January 2011 against Australia in Adelaide. Opening the bowling, he took figures of 1/34, taking the wicket of Australian captain Cameron White with his final delivery. He later scored the winning runs, as England won off the last ball with just one wicket left and one run required. In the second match he made 11 not out and took 1–29 with the ball. He featured in the third ODI, taking 1–31 as England lost by 4 wickets. In just his second ODI Woakes took figures of 6–45, although England went on to lose the game by 45 runs. He kept his place for the next game, but was less impressive, finishing with 0–73. He was selected for the T20 against Sri Lanka, although he managed only 7 runs and finished wicketless.

Woakes returned to the England set up in 2012 for the 2nd ODI against South Africa, although the match was rained off. He returned for the fifth ODI, scoring an unbeaten 33 as England lost by 7 wickets.

2012–2013 India, New Zealand and Australia

Woakes was un impressive in the two games he played against India in the ODI series. In the two matches he played he failed to score a run (although he did not bat in one match) and took figures of 2–105 over the two games.

Despite his poor showings, Woakes was given an extended run in the side against New Zealand. He made 17 and took 2–52 in the first match, and took 3–68 in the second as England won by 8 wickets. In the third game he took figures of 1–54. This proved to be his final wicket of the series, although he made 36 in the fourth match in a 5 wicket defeat. He scored 13 in the final match as England again lost, this time by 86 runs.

Woakes played his first Test match against Australia in the final Test of the 2013 Ashes series. He took figures of 1–96 in the first innings, before making 25 with the bat. He made an unbeaten 17 in the final innings of the match as England closed down on their target, although bad light meant that the match eventually ended in a draw.

2014 Sri Lanka and India

After being named in squads against Sri Lanka and India, Woakes played his first Test of the 2014 summer against India. He was wicket less in the first game, although he did make an unbeaten seven with the bat as England won the game to level the series. In the following match Woakes made 25 not out in the first innings, but struggled with the ball, taking match figures of 1–80. In the final match of the series Woakes took figures of 3–30 as England won the Test to win the series 3–1. Woakes was an integral part of England's ODI side, playing all four matches. He took figures of 4–52 in the second ODI, after the first had been abandoned. In the second match of higher series he took 1–43 and made 15 runs. He did not take a wicket in the fourth game of the series as England went 3–0 down. He made nine in the final match as England won their first game of the series. He bowled the final over in the T20 International against India, closing out the game and finishing with figures of 1–43.

Woakes was selected in the ODI squad that toured Sri Lanka towards the end of 2014. England toured without injured senior bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson, meaning Woakes was trusted with the new ball. In the first match he took 2–68 and followed this up with 0–23 in the next match as England went 2–0 down in the series. He took 3–41 in the third match of the series as England won their first match of the tour. After England lost the fourth game, Woakes took figures of 6–47 in the fifth match of the series. Woakes was less effective with the ball in the final two matches of the series, although he did make scores of 41 and 34 with the bat. Despite this, England lost the series 5–2. Woakes was considered as one of the stand out performers of the tour.

2015 Tri Series

Woakes was the pick of England's bowlers in the opening game of the Tri series against Australia, taking figures of 4–40, although England lost the game. In the next match against India he did not take a wicket but England won the game comfortably. He took two wickets in the next game against Australia, but England lost the match meaning they would have to beat India to qualify for the final. They did so, with Woakes taking 2–47 and hitting the winning runs to set up and England versus Australia final. Woakes had a poor game in the final, finishing with figures of 0–89 and being dismissed for a duck.

2015 World Cup

Woakes was expensive in England's first game against Australia, finishing with figures of 1–65, although he did make 37 with the bat as England lost their first game. He took figures of 2–8 in the next match against New Zealand, but England performed poorly and were beaten by eight wickets. He picked up another two wickets against Scotland in the next match as England won their first match of the tournament. In the next match against Sri Lanka, Woakes failed to pick up a wicket as England lost by nine wickets. This left England having to beat Bangladesh to have any chance of qualifying. Woakes took figures of 0–64 as Bangladesh posted 275. He was left stranded on 42 as England were bowled out and lost the match to be eliminated from the tournament.Woakes suffered a left third metatarsal stress reaction injury, ruling out of England's final game against Afghanistan.

2015 Australia and Pakistan

After an injury lay-off, Woakes returned for the ODI series against Australia. He failed to take a wicket in any of the three matches he played. After finishing with figures of 0–57 and 0–37 in the first two matches, he made his first significant contribution of the series in the third match, scoring an unbeaten 14 to help England to 300 and a victory. However, Woakes was dropped for the final two matches of the series.

Woakes was part of the side that played Pakistan in the ODI series. He finished with figures of 0–40 in the first match, meaning he had gone six straight matches without taking a wicket. Despite this, Woakes made a useful contribution with the bat, scoring 33. However, he returned to form in the second match, taking figures of 4–33. He followed this up with 4–40 in the third match of the series as England recorded a six wicket victory. In the final match, he finished with figures of 0–40, although England went on to win the match by 84 runs.

2015/16 South Africa

Woakes played in the first Test against South Africa, although he only managed to take one wicket in the match, as England secured a win. He didn’t play in the next two matches, but returned for the final match of the series. After taking −91 in the first innings, he failed to take a wicket in the second as South Africa secured an emphatic win, although England won the series 2–1. Woakes played in the final two ODI matches of the series against South Africa. He scored 33 in the first match and took figures of 1–42 as England suffered a narrow defeat, while he failed to pick up a wicket in the final match of the series, which England lost 3–2.

2016 Sri Lanka

Woakes returned to the Test side in the second Test against Sri Lanka, replacing the injured Ben Stokes. He took 3–9 in the first innings and contributed 39 with the bat. He took 2–103 in the second as England won the match by nine wickets. In the third Test he scored 66 with the bat, before taking figures of 3–31 in Sri Lanka's first innings to restrict them to 288. However, England were unable to force a win due to rain and had to settle for a 2–0 series win.

On 21 June 2016, he scored his highest ODI score of unbeaten 95 runs in the first ODI against Sri Lanka. His score is the highest ODI score by number eight or lower in ODI history. Finally the match was ended with a tie and Woakes adjudged man of the match. In the second ODI he did not take a wicket but bowled economically as England won by ten wickets. He took 3–34 in the third match of the series, which was eventually abandoned due to rain. He did not take wicket in the fourth match of the series, finishing with figures of 0–65, although England went on to win the game. In the final game of the series he scored an unbeaten 17 to help England to 324/7, and they went on to win the match by 122 runs to win the series 3–0.

2016 Pakistan

Woakes took figures of 6–70 in Pakistan’s first innings of the first Test. He followed this up with 5–32 in Pakistan’s second innings, although England lost the match by 75 runs. In the second Test he made 58 with the bat in England’s first innings and then took 4–67 with the ball as England found themselves in a strong position. He took 3–41 in Pakistan’s second innings as England won by 330 runs. In the third Test Woakes took 3–79 in Pakistan’s first innings and 2–53 in their second as England won by 141 runs. In the final Test of the series he made 45 in England’s first innings as they reached 328 in their first innings. He took three wickets in Pakistan’s first innings as they built a big first innings lead. Woakes made just four in England’s second innings as Pakistan won by ten wickets. He played in the first ODI against Pakistan, taking figures of 1–43. He took figures of 3–42 and 4–41 in England’s next two matches as they went 3–0 up in the series. Having been rotated for the fourth ODI, Woakes returned for the final match of the series and took figures of 1–47 as England lost the match by four wickets, although they won the series 4–1.

2016 Bangladesh

In the first ODI against Bangladesh Woakes made 16 with the bat and then took figures of 0–38 as England won the opening match of the series. England lost the second match, with Woakes takin 2–40, although it wasn’t enough to prevent a 34 run defeat. In the final game of the series, Woakes did not take a wicket but made 27 to help guide England to victory. In the Test series between the two sides, Woakes made 36 in England’s first innings total of 293. He bowled economically in the second innings but failed to take a wicket. He made an unbeaten 19 in England’s second innings and again helped to build pressure in the second innings, despite not taking a wicket. England won the match by 22 runs. Woakes took 3–30 in the first innings of the second Test. He made 46 with the bat to help England to a first innings lead. However, England collapsed in their second innings in their second innings, with Woakes making 9, as England lost the match.

2016–17 India

Woakes played in the First Test against India, taking figures of 0–57 in India’s first innings. He took −16 in their second innings, as the match ended in a draw. After missing the second Test, Woakes returned for the third Test and made 25 in England’s first innings total of 283. He did not pick up a wicket in India’s innings, but scored another 30 runs in England’s second innings. He finished with figures of 1–16 in India’s second innings as they won by eight wickets. In the fourth game, he took figures of 1–79 in India’s first innings as they scored 631. He was dismissed for a duck in England’s second innings as they lost by an innings and 36 runs to go 3–0 down in the series. He did not play in the final Test, which England lost.

Woakes took 0–44 in the first ODI as England lost by three wickets. He took 4–60 in the second ODI as India made 381/6 as England lost the match 15 runs. In the third ODI he made 34 with the bat as England 321/8. He took figures of 2–75 as England won by five runs.

2017 West Indies

In the first ODI against the West Indies Woakes took figures of 4–47 as England won by 45 runs. He took 0–28 in the second ODI and then made an unbeaten 68 with the bat as England won by four wickets. In the final match of the series Woakes made 13 and then took figures of 3–16 as England won by 186 runs.