Let’s hit the ground running this time
WOAKES URGES ENGLAND TO BUCK TREND AND BEGIN SERIES ON FRONT FOOT
HOME BIRD Chris Woakes hopes the stardust from two alltime greats tomorrow will cure England’s alarming record of false starts in a Test series.
Barely 12 hours after the World Cup holders complete their one-day assignment against Ireland 240 miles away in Southampton, England’s first Test against Pakistan launches in a bio-secure Old Trafford bubble.
James Anderson and Stuart Broad, below, will relish the chance to build on a double act which has already clocked up 1,090 Test wickets between them.
All-rounder Woakes was relieved to discover the coffee machine was still there when he checked into the same hotel room, with a pitchside view, that he stayed in last month.
And he admits England need to wake up and smell the coffee faster than they did against the West Indies after Joe Root’s men recovered from losing the first Test to win 2-1.
Woakes wrapped up the series by taking 5-50 and his overall record in England – 81 wickets at 22.53 each – should be enough to keep his place if Ben Stokes can only feature as a specialist batsman. But he admits there will be no hiding place if England fall to a ninth defeat in 11 opening Tests.
Like the rest of the squad, Woakes was allowed home for five nights to see his family after five weeks’ incarceration in the coronavirus-secure bubble and he said: “We don’t see ourselves as having an excuse at all.
“I’d love to put my finger on why it keeps happening and it’s getting to a stage where it’s not just coincidence.
“But we want to put that right. This is a new series and we know the conditions here at Old Trafford so those are no excuses.
“We’ve been living cricket for five weeks, staying in the hotels on the grounds, pitchfacing rooms, and whenever you wake up or have an hour off, you’re constantly looking at a cricket field, which makes it a little tricky. But we get used to it.”
Woakes had a close-up view when Broad took his 500th wicket in the third Test against the West Indies and followed sidekick Anderson as the only Englishmen to reach the milestone.
He said: “I hope I’ve done enough to be in that starting XI but we’ve got still two of England’s greats charging in and taking wickets.
“It’s incredibly hard just getting into the side when those two are around. They’ve still got a lot of cricket in them but when they finish, whenever that might be, they are going to be so hard to replace.
“They have been absolute world-beaters for a long period and, as a bowler learning from their experiences, it feels like you’re witnessing history.
“At 31, it’s probably unlikely I’m going to go on and get 500 Test wickets like Jimmy and Broady.
“But I feel I can provide really good service for many more years.”