- Chris Woakes said it would be “daft” for England to abandon Bazball after one bad Ashes, despite the 4-1 series defeat in Australia.
- Speaking in an ESPNcricinfo interview, he argued the approach has delivered major progress under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.
- Woakes also explained his retirement decision, reflected on Australia’s pitches, and discussed possible coaching ambitions.
Chris Woakes has backed England to stick with Bazball, insisting the team would be making a mistake if they tore up the approach after their heavy Ashes defeat in Australia.
In an ESPNcricinfo interview, Woakes said the last three years have produced clear gains under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, even if England have not yet nailed the biggest away series. He argued that a bad tour should not erase the progress, or the context of where England were before the current leadership took over.
“I think it’d be daft to kind of rip it up and start again,” Woakes said in an interview with ESPNcricinfo. “We have done so many good things over the last three years. We won some extremely exciting Test matches. I think people forget that before they took over, we were a pretty poor side. We were not winning games of cricket. I think at the same time now, obviously we’ve had a poor series in Australia and haven’t got quite over the line in the big series, but they’re close. To rip it up now would be a bit daft.
“It didn’t go really well in Australia obviously. I think we had the team to be able to compete. The guys are extremely talented. I think maybe going to Australia for the first time for a lot of them, maybe got exposed a little bit to the conditions. Then you realize that you have to back it up day after day after day. They didn’t win those key moments. I think particularly as a bowling attack, they probably didn’t quite have the experience and the know-how to perform on those surfaces.”
Woakes, now playing in the franchise circuit, also addressed his retirement decision, making clear it was not dependent on how his shoulder injury recovery went. He said the decision was locked in once he had made it, even if the rehab went better than expected.
“As soon as I made my statement of retiring, I’d made my decision. I was kind of happy to make that decision, regardless of what happened with regards to injury and recovery. But I recovered probably a little bit quicker than I expected. I expected it to probably cause me a few more issues than what it did. I worked hard on recovery and fitness so to get back was pleasing. Once I made my decision, I was never going to go back on that.”
He also looked back at how different the Australian conditions have become, suggesting the surfaces on this tour would have suited him, even if he could only watch from afar.
“I have been to Australia many times but I have not bowled on wickets like that. So, it is a bit of a shame that I missed that one. But that’s the way it goes, and the game has changed a little bit, and certainly the wickets have changed in Australia, definitely,” he said.
Looking ahead, Woakes said he still sees playing as the priority for now, but did not hide that coaching, including a possible future role with England, could appeal later.
“I would love to (be involved with England). I obviously I still want to play for at least a couple more years particularly franchise opportunities and a bit of county cricket. In the future that’s something which might excite me to (be involved),” he said.
Woakes also talked about Joe Root’s chase of Sachin Tendulkar’s Test run record, describing Root’s consistency and adaptability as the key qualities, while suggesting it could take a couple more strong years for the numbers to fall into place.
“I mean, he’s certainly got a chance. I kind of hope so for Joe, because obviously he’s a friend of mine and I’ve watched him go about his business. He’s a world class operator. He’s done it across all conditions. Longevity is the most special thing in my eyes. To be able to consistently improve. People nowadays are constantly looking at ways to expose you.
“To be able to continue to do that and perform is just pretty special. I’d like to see him do it. Obviously, he’s got to have a couple of pretty good years, but on current form, there’s no reason why not.”
