England’s ego-less attack leader found a way to stay relevant but it wasn’t the cut-and-thrust of old
Vithushan Ehantharajah12-Jul-20252:12
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There are a few for fast bowlers. Two of them are bowling with the wicketkeeper up and celebrating wickets down the leg side.Chris Woakes has ticked off both in India’s first innings. On Friday, looking to keep Shubman Gill in his crease, Jamie Smith donned a helmet to intercept Woakes’ deliveries at the earliest point. Here on day three, Smith was sprawled out on the Lord’s turf while Woakes continued in his follow-through, not even bothering with a cursory turn to the umpire for his appeal.Icks are broadly nonsense, of course. Merely an alert that anyone who uses the term sincerely is emotionally stunted and void of empathy. But there’s something to be said for the fact that Woakes – the leader of this England pace attack, for so long a standard-setter on skill, whose aesthetics have evolved with a hint of Captain America with silverfox tints – would be willing to indulge in turn-offs others may seek to avoid.”Sometimes as a bowler, you’ve got to take your ego out of it,” Joe Root said of Saturday’s keeper-up scenario. If ever there was a man willing to park ego for the good of the team, it’s Woakes.A decent wobble-seam delivery to Gill, who was clearly tetchy with Smith breathing down his neck, was nicked. The India captain, leading runscorer in the series by a distance already, was dismissed for just 16, of the back of his twin scores of 269 and 161 at Edgbaston last week.And in the dregs of Saturday, with India 13 behind, on Woakes came with the second new ball 29 overs old. Another attempt at a wobble-seam came out on the wrong line, nipping up the slope and down Ravindra Jadeja’s leg side. Except the left-hander’s lazy flick brought the end of his knock on 72, ending a frustrating 113-ball stand on 50.It would be the first of India’s final four wickets to fall for just 11 runs, a collapse that ensured the first three days of this Test have been, largely, for nothing. Not for Woakes, mind. Another in the cascade – Jasprit Bumrah caught behind – gave him 3 for 84, and a doubling of his dismissals for the series.It was a deserved haul in many ways. Woakes was typically un-shy of doing his bit. No bowler on either side sent down more than his 27 overs in the first innings, and only the spinner Shoaib Bashir has delivered more than the 109 he has so far this series. Bumrah, rested for the second Test, ticked over to 27 in this match with one second-innings over this evening.Related
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When Woakes was not bowling, he was assisting with advice or simply just encouragement from mid-on and mid-off, as well as taking on ball-shining duties. And yet, to watch Woakes operate in India’s first innings was to slowly realise we might be witnessing the beginning of the end.That, primarily, is down to pace. Woakes averaged 81mph on Friday, with the delivery that snared Gill clocking in at 80mph. The awry 79mph ball that brought about Jadeja’s downfall was one of the quickest he sent down on Saturday, during which he averaged 78.9mph.The snap seems to be missing. It was evident in patches over the last two Tests, notably the first morning on his home ground. His misfortune in Birmingham – a solitary wicket in an opening spell worthy of three – proved to be England’s as they eventually fell to defeat. Now, that energy into and off the surface is absent, and it is not squarely on a Lord’s pitch that has been too dry to be sprightly.After Woakes had bowled just six of the opening 20 overs with the first new ball, the second was given to Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse. Both represent a not-too-distant future beyond Woakes. In his first appearance in more than four years, Archer has already shown he has the consistency and zip off the surface to do what Woakes does, allied with high pace.Carse, having impressed with his new-ball skills at Edgbaston, has also offered plenty with the bat. His maiden half-century was a measured and timely knock, and has already eclipsed Woakes’ exploits. Despite a handy 38 at Headingley, Woakes has offered little of the protection he was supposed to bring as the third ‘allrounder’, after Ben Stokes and Smith. A first-innings golden duck reduced Woakes’ series average to 12.50 in the series – No.11 Shoaib Bashir’s is 14.Of course, it is no great leap to suggest a 36-year old may be moving to the end of his career. That a bowler who laughed at the suggestion he might last as long as James Anderson – 41 upon his retirement at the start of last summer – is realising his mortality in front of our eyes.That Anderson was given a swansong on this very ground brings a little more context to all this.It is here at Lord’s that Woakes has adorned all three honours board. His duck ironically put him in even more exclusive company as one of four to register a first-baller, after making it onto all three honours boards, for five-fors, 10-fors and hundreds.A bowling average of 12.90 here coming into this match has now risen to 14.20, which is not all that dramatic. But beyond the context of the series, his career average is trending the wrong way (29.33 at the moment), having forced it down to 27.84 last summer.When Anderson followed Stuart Broad into retirement in back-to-back home Tests spanning the summers of 2023 and 2024, Woakes was handed a double promotion of sorts. The opening-bowler slot came with the job of pack leader. He has been more than worthy of both roles, but he was never truly going to occupy them for more than a couple of years.The Ashes this winter looks increasingly unlikely. His average of 51.68 in Australia tells a story of overseas struggle that the man himself has acknowledged. But the suggestion from the England management was that he could yet provide a valuable role on spicier pitches Down Under, with a “friendlier” Kookaburra ball for English fingers. He seemed to have a role to play.Alas, it might be that Woakes has walked into the sunset before England walk onto the plane for their trip to the other side of the world. He is far too humble to assume any occasion as his own – Anderson did so reluctantly, of course – but that has made these last two days feel like a game occasionally looking at the clock while a career grips its coat. These have been the first hums of a subdued goodbye.Two-and-a-half Tests remain, enough time to bow out on his own terms. Those terms, rather than choosing if or when to announce any goodbye, are primarily geared towards affecting this series in a meaningful way.Even this Test, with runs now at a premium in a second-innings shootout, requires Woakes to provide, especially given the importance of the new ball. The end might be coming, but it’s not here yet.
