England's Mr Reliable: The welcome return of Chris Woakes

SIMON HUGHES: Chris Woakes is often overshadowed but never overawed, a fast medium, seam bowling all-rounder who always answers to his job description. He gives you what it says on the tin/in the match programme

Chris Woakes began his Test career at The Oval, eight years ago. It wasn’t pretty.

He conceded a boundary an over and finished with 1 for 96. The only reason this performance went under the radar was because left arm spinner Simon Kerrigan’s debut (0 for 53 off eight) was worse. Kerrigan, of course never played for England again, but Woakes went away and came back a year later a better bowler and took 3 for 30 against India.

And he’s steadily improved every year since. His Test career bowling average has kept heading south until, last year, his annus mirabilis, it was under 29. Woakes has become England’s Mr Reliable, often overshadowed but never overawed, a fast medium, seam bowling all-rounder who always answers to his job description. He gives you what it says on the tin/in the match programme.

So it was at the Oval, just over a year since he last played a Test match. A year of frustration. Obliged to isolate after being Moeen’s passenger en route to the Sri Lanka series, Woakes was then not selected against India (partly because of his lack of cricket), then suffered an untimely injury ruling him out against New Zealand (which at least gave Ollie Robinson his chance).

The lack of first-class cricket in mid-summer has made it doubly hard for him to return. A Warwickshire 2nd XI match was the best he could find.

But nothing will keep a good man down. Finally he got the green light for this Test. He emerged from the dressing room optimistically swinging his arms when Joe Root elected to field first.

He wasn’t given the new ball, a right that Robinson has earned in Stuart Broad’s absence (in fact even in Broad’s presence in the Indian second innings at Lord's). He got the nod after Jimmy Anderson’s exploratory four-over opening spell from the Vauxhall End.

^{Woakes appealing for the wicket of Shardul Thakur}

He was on it straight away.

The busy, enthusiastic run-up, the efficient action, the tidy line and length. First ball, a fraction short but straight. The second and third similar with a hint of outswing, the fourth a bit fuller, swinging past Rohit Sharma’s ambitious drive, the fifth restrictive, the sixth bouncing awkwardly from just short of a length, forcing Rohit to fence at it, the outside edge taken through to the jumping Jonny Bairstow.

Woakes punched the air, jumping, high fiving, hollering with joy – expelling all those 12 long months of frustration.

India were 28 for 1 and soon after he’d completed his opening five over spell they were 39 for 3 and he had conceded just one scoring shot. He was promptly back from the Pavilion End to have Virat Kohli dropped at slip and snare Ravi Jadeja caught by Root.

In a third spell he was not perturbed by Rishabh Pant’s extravagances and induced a tame dismissal caught at deep mid off. At that point India were 127 for 7 and Woakes had 3 for 19.

He came in for a bit of rough treatment at the hands of India’s number eight, Shardul Thakur - a few beefy slogs, a few streaky slices - but never lost his composure and had the sense to stick to the basics to finish an audacious innings off before excessive damage was done. 4 for 55 was a decent reward.

England were glad to have him back. And seeing England’s continued vulnerability with the bat they will be glad to have a man with 10 first-class hundreds and a Test batting average of almost 28 coming in at number eight too. Could make all the difference in the end. And banish Woakes’ first Oval Test memories for ever.

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