Chris Woakes accepts PCA POTY award but admits "2016 was probably a better summer"

NICK HOWSON: The 31-year-old played a vital role with a bat and ball during a truncated summer - but doesn't believe it was the finest summer of his career

• Cook's class, magic Morley and fabulous Fisher lead the outstanding moments of a weird and wonderful 2020

Chris Woakes has expressed his pride at having scooped the Natwest Men's PCA Player of the Year award - but admits 2020 represents far from his best summer.

The 31-year-old, whose wife gave birth to their second child this week, has two reasons to celebrate after being voted for the prize by his fellow professionals.

He enjoyed a fine summer in both red and white-ball cricket, taking 26 wickets and scoring 320 runs in eight outings across the two formats.

The highlight was an unbeaten 84 in the first Test against Pakistan at Emirates Old Trafford which inspired England's successful fourth innings run-chase.

Despite beating Simon Harmer, Craig Overton and young player of the year Zak Crawley to scoop the prize Woakes doesn't believe this summer was necessarily the zenith of his career.

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"I still think my best summer was 2016," said the Warwickshire man. "That was purely because I played more cricket that summer. Whereas this year has been different with no fans, the bubble. 

"I think that is what makes it so pleasing that we've done it and performed well under tricky circumstances. I didn't know how the summer was going to go. 

"I didn't think I was going to play much cricket for England this summer. I am proud of how I went about it. I think 2016 was probably a better summer for me but that was purely on a numbers basis."

That particular season saw Woakes take 34 Test wickets at 17.20 in matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, as well as averaging 44.20 with the bat.

His limited-overs returns were equally outstanding, hitting a career-best 95 not out in a tie with Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge and taking 14 wickets with the ball

Woakes' 2020 summer began with him being omitted from the team for the first Test against West Indies at The Ageas Bowl.

^{Chris Woakes' 2016 included an ODI-best score of 95 not out}

But while Stuart Broad used the media to display his frustration with the decision to omit himself from the XI, his fellow fast bowler used the time away from the middle to work on his game.

"Me and Stuart were probably in different situations - that is just the way I operate," he added. "I didn't turn up to that camp expecting to be in that first XI. 

"We had a lot of fast bowlers available. I was probably thinking I had a 25 per cent chance I'd play in that first Test match anyway. I wasn't expecting to play whereas Stuart thought he was. 

"I went about my business the right way. With not much cricket under my belt leading in, we had a two-week camp and then into the Test matches I used that week (off) to try and get more cricket under my belt and get some more practice. That helped leading into the next Test match and I went to play every game after that."

The first NatWest Cricket Awards, a combination of the PCA Awards and NatWest OSCAs, honours both the community cricket club heroes and professional stars of the season in one event that will celebrate the game from the ground up in recognition of an extraordinary year for the sport.

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