Chris Woakes took his first wickets of the tournament against Bangladesh. Photo: Reuters/Andrew Boyers
Chris Woakes' two wickets against Bangladesh were not good. simply remarkable with hints of a return to his best form after a torrid start to the 2023 World Cup. They also significantly suggested that he had expanded his reporting.
“In India, Woakes knows that when he comes back with the old ball, he will have to summon all his resourcefulness. When Lytton Das blasted Woakes by 76 in Dharmasala, ending any notion that Bangladesh could attack England's 364, it was confirmation of a new trick Woakes had developed with this World Cup in mind: developing his cutters.
“It was a case that I played throughout my career,” Woakes explained. “I just tried to change the way the seam is represented.
“In these conditions, if I can throw it seam up and it grabs the seam, it either holds or glides a little better. This is what I just worked on in terms of seam position. The serve itself is the same, it just looks the same from a seam point of view.”
Wooks gets another one!
Great innings from Liton Das comes to an end 💪 pic.twitter.com/h66RtsdHGY
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) October 10, 2023
“Although he removed Das with a drop shot, much of Woakes' second spell consisted of the opposite variation: a leg shot that, after delivery, deflects away from the right-hander like a quick leg break. This is not a new move for Woakes, but it is one he believes is crucial to improving his performance in India. He intends to use this option later in the tournament, as the pitches used become abrasive and reward bowlers who can cut the ball.
“I was working on throwing the leg kick that I threw a lot in the second period and trying to get the ball away from right-handers,” Woakes said. “I think it will be an effective delivery, especially through mid and back when the wickets get a little slower and drier.”
“Wookes was the player of the Ashes series last summer. It was a remarkable achievement for a cricketer who had not played a Test for 16 months and was then parachuted into the Ashes in a 2–0 loss to England. It was Woakes's crowning achievement in a Test career in which, like Andy Murray in the Big Three era, his own stardom was sometimes overshadowed by the greatness of his contemporaries.
Wux's reaction was typical. After a short break, he calmed down to think about what he needed to give himself the best chance of winning a third World Cup, including the 2019 ODI World Cup, when he made 6-57 in the semi-finals and final combined. – and last year’s T20 World Cup.
“I’ve actually been working on this since the summer, after the Ashes and moving up to the Hundred,” he explained. “I obviously had that in mind when I came here to Asia.”
The knife knife “was something that I just thought could really come in handy for my white ball game.” Woakes tracked down Stuart Barnes, the bowling coach at Warwickshire.
“He grips the ball harder and has a more aggressive kick.”
“The great thing about Woakes is that he’s open to learning, and that’s the main thing the reason why he’s so good,” Barnes says. “Then we started to break down what he needed: he needed a knife that attacked both edges, so the knife and the knife.”
Together they studied the slow motion video. Wookes developed a slightly different grip for his cutters.
“Wooks was very clear about what seam position he wanted his cutters to look like. The whole session was about testing slightly different grips and different pressures so we could see the seam position that gave him the best chance of being able to make the shot.”
“In his game, Woakes tends to run his thumb across the wicket to get as much maximum spin as possible. For his foot knife, Wookes developed variations with variations. By gripping the ball softly, he uses a “soft” leg cut where the ball still has a chance to swing or hit the right-hander before serving. By squeezing the ball more, he has a more aggressive kicking action which allows for more movement off the wicket.
“If Woakes' game develops, it will have a significant impact on the balance of England's attack. If Woakes shows more venom after the new ball loses its luster, it will pose a greater threat to England in the middle overs, reducing the reliance on Adil Rashid and Mark Wood at that stage.
Wookes' campaign curiosity So far he's has been least effective in the period that suits him best: with the new ball. Against New Zealand, when he played too full, his first three overs totaled 27 runs; Against Bangladesh, he conceded 34. Woakes' World Cup analysis so far has shown an unfavorable 0-99 after ten overs. But realizing his importance to England's campaign, Jos Buttler left Woakes in the fifth over with the new ball and was rewarded with an outside edge by dismissing Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
In both the 2019 World Cup and the 2019 World Cup . Woakes started the 2022 T20 World Cup poorly but has since become more effective. England are hoping that by combining his signature new wickets and dismissals with the old ball created with his latest variations, the trend will carry over to India 2023.
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