Do England need Chris Woakes in their T20I side?
An integral member of their Test and ODI setups, Chris Woakes has featured in only 8 T20Is for England. For the large part of his now nearly a decade-old career, the Warwickshire all-rounder hasn’t been considered good enough to the make T20I side.
It will change, though, when Sri Lanka comes to town and Jofra Archer (injured) is unavailable, with the T20 World Cup in sight forcing England to spread the net wide. But is there a case to be made for Chris Woakes’ long-term inclusion? Let’s explore.
If you’ve seen Woakes bowl, his record as a T20 pacer wouldn’t surprise you. The gentle right-arm medium-pacer has gone for 9.37 runs per over in his handful of games for England and has an overall T20 economy rate of 8.35 after 114 matches.
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The qualities that make Chris Woakes such a decent Test bowler, certainly at home – simple action, good control – make him an ideal bowler that batsmen can line up in T20s, for he lacks the variety and pace to trouble them.
With the likes of Archer and Wood among others covering up more bases across an innings, Woakes has really been an afterthought for England in T20I cricket. In the IPL, where he has played for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Delhi Capitals (DC), Woakes has played only 21 matches across three seasons and has an economy rate of 8.97.
Chris Woakes
That, however, would be only partly telling the Chris Woakes story in T20s as he has something interesting about his numbers. If it is so easy to line-up a bowler like him, Woakes shouldn’t have dismissed so many batters and not be boasting of a very good T20 strike-rate. But he does. He has taken 126 wickets from his 114 outings, more than one per innings.
In ODIs, admittedly a format with completely different rules and regulations but also one which is partly matching T20s in the level of intent these days, Woakes, while conceding 5.54 runs per over, has taken as many as 149 wickets from his 104 outings.
It shows that within his limitations, Chris Woakes has found a way to be relevant for England, especially at the top of the innings, where his ability to swing the ball despite white Kookaburra or at least shape it into and away from the right-handers has made him effective.
Do England need Chris Woakes in their T20I side?
Economy rate is still the best metric to judge bowlers in T20 cricket, for it ultimately reflects in the wickets column too. But Woakes’ is an interesting case at a time when England need to deepen their attack and have varying options available.
Fast-bowling outside Wood and Archer was a major issue for England in their T20I series defeat earlier in the year against India. While Wood (7.75) and Archer (8.06) ended the series in Ahmedabad with decent economy rates despite bowling in tough phases, the likes of Chris Jordan (10.51) and Ben Stokes (8.83) proved quite expensive.
England need the all-round presence of Stokes, but they can certainly do without Jordan or say a Tom Curran, who don’t offer them as much control. An option that allows them to use Wood and Archer only when they need could prove quite influential. And this is where Chris Woakes comes into the picture.
JUST IN: Chris Woakes recalled to England T20I squad for series against Sri Lanka!
He last played T20Is in 2015
In the recent IPL for Delhi, Woakes took 5 wickets at 16.4 and a economy of 7.45. In the powerplay, that economy stood at an impressive 5.00.#ENGvSL pic.twitter.com/NXjCcSpf74
— CricXtasy (@CricXtasy) June 12, 2021
With his swing upfront, Woakes can make a telling impact, taking wickets to derail the opposition progress and allow other bowlers to face fresh batsmen when they come on to bowl. It won’t always work, of course, given the conditions in which white-ball cricket is played. But if you’re in the middle of a T20 World Cup, it only has to work for a couple of big nights and you’re through. Cliche alright, but teams don’t still win enough matches when they lose 2 or more wickets in the powerplay.
A recent IPL match gave a nice glimpse of what could be Chris Woakes’ role and the impact he can have at his best. Playing against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Wankhede for Delhi Capitals (DC), Woakes, in a new-ball pairing with Avesh Khan, they made a couple of telling blows right at the start. And though CSK recovered and eventually posted 188/7 from 7/2, their score proved insufficient on a placid track with dew falling, as they had conceded too much ground in the powerplay itself being only 33/2 at the end of 6 overs.
The best time to take wickets in T20 cricket is at the start. Chris Woakes can provide England those, while also making life easier for Wood and Archer. It won’t always work, I must reiterate, but England can take this punt given their existing attack.