How the yo-yo made Woakes a world-beater
‘Goldenballs’ on the up thanks to toy story
He is no longer just a poor man’s Ben Stokes
IF CHRIS WOAKES appeared to have the ball on a piece of string in recent weeks, it should come as no surprise. His remarkable journey from minor counties cricket a decade ago to England’s all-round man of the summer has drawn on many qualities: modesty, perseverance, intelligence and skill. But the role played by the humble yo-yo ticks none of the usual boxes.
The 27 wickets he has taken in 2016 against South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan at an average of 18.66 have been the product of a grooved action, repeated at pace, underpinned by accuracy and topped off with a bit of movement each way, both through the air and off the pitch.
But a trick passed down to him by bowling coach Steve Perryman at Warwickshire several years ago helped Woakes add vital nuance to his seam-bowling repertoire. ‘We used to work very hard on his stock ball, which was a natural away-swinger,’ says Perryman.
‘But we wanted to introduce some variation so I gave him a yo-yo to help him work on his wrist position and get the inswinger going properly.
‘If you run your fingers down the side of a yo-yo, it snags up a bit. It’s just like bowling — running your fingers down the side of the ball at the point of delivery can take the pace off it. Chris used to walk around with the yo-yo so he could practise.’
The toy also feels curiously symbolic, for Woakes’s international career has been nothing if not up and down. In his second appearance, a one-day game against Australia in January 2011, he claimed six for 45, still England’s best analysis overseas. Against Sri Lanka in December 2014, he added the second best: six for 47.
But his Test career was, well, snagging up a bit. Shane Watson tucked into Woakes on his debut at the Oval in 2013 and he had played only five more Tests before injury to Ben Stokes opened the door for a return against Sri Lanka in May.
Yet after England squared the series against Pakistan on Monday, captain Alastair Cook admitted Woakes’s performances in South Africa over the winter had not been encouraging.
‘When we left there we had a bit of doubt,’ said Cook. ‘But in the back of my mind was a bloke who averaged 25 (with the ball) in firstclass cricket. When you face him in the nets, you know he can bowl. It was just about a bit more belief from him — or a bit of luck.’
It helped that Woakes had just taken nine for 36 against Durham before his Test return. But a spell of 7-3-9-3 against Sri Lanka was the start of a sequence that helps explain why Warwickshire teammates call him ‘Goldenballs’.
He took 11 for 102 during the first-Test defeat by Pakistan — the best match analysis by an English seamer at Lord’s since Brian Statham in 1960 — then seven for 108 in the win at Old Trafford.
He has been scoring runs, too, averaging 55 since his recall. His first- class career averages, 37 with the bat, 24 with the ball, are better than Stokes’s 34 and 30.
When he made that Test debut, experts diagnosed a problem: he wasn’t quick enough. But with the help of Kevin Shine at the ECB academy and former Warwickshire bowling coach Graeme Welch, Woakes was already working on a solution involving making better use of his front arm. Alan Richardson, the former Worcestershire seamer now on Warwickshire’s coaching staff, says: ‘ When I used to play against him, his front arm could be a bit what we’d call lazy. It would fall away earlier in his action, which would give the bowling side of his body less to pull against.’
Shine agrees. ‘ When he first played for England he was bowling at 81-82mph. But this summer he’s touched 90mph. It’s a big difference and he’s exceeded expectations.’
For a while, his pursuit of pace compromised his other qualities. But a natural work ethic, and a tendency to remain on an even keel, allowed him to adjust.
It has been quite a transformation. When Perryman started working with him at 14, Woakes was ‘ a very slight lad’. But Perryman adds: ‘ What struck me was his basics were very sound. He had an action that couldn’t go wrong, he bowled a good natural length, and he swung the ball away. He had all the ingredients.’
Chris Boroughs was captain of Herefordshire when Woakes, then a regular with Warwickshire Under 17s and Birmingham club Walmley, first turned out for them in 2006.
‘He was only 17 when he first played for us,’ said Boroughs. ‘But he acquitted himself very well. The one thing that stood out was that he was a very attentive lad.
‘Some talented young players come into minor counties cricket and think they’re better than they are. But he was learning all the time, listening to the seasoned pros around him. And you could tell he was working it out for himself.’
He was soon snapped up by England Under 19s and set on a path which included a conditioning trip to Nick Bollettieri’s tennis academy in Florida and visits to Dennis Lillee’s fast-bowling centre in Chennai.
In 2008, his first full season, Woakes topped Warwickshire’s Championship bowling averages, with 42 wickets at 20 apiece. Wisden noted his ‘clever use of the crease’ — another trick he had worked on with Perryman.
At 27, Woakes is still two or three years from his fast-bowling prime but feels he finally belongs. He is no longer being spoken of as a poor man’s Stokes. Instead, he has become comfortable in his own skin.
‘He came back from the winter in South Africa incredibly frustrated,’ said Richardson. ‘He was unlucky to be in and out of the side so when he played he was rusty and out of rhythm.
‘It took him three or four games this season for Warwickshire to hit his straps. Then he took nine-for against Durham and kicked on.
‘All it took was a bit of a stretch in the Test side. And all he needed for that was just one performance to give him that confidence that he belongs.’
For the first time in Chris Woakes’s England career, the yo-yo no longer feels like a metaphor.