Let's Give Woakes Credit For Gambling On Speed

If top-level coaches were to put forward their idea of the perfect cricketer, not just in terms of performance but low maintenance as well, then Chris Woakes would be that player.

- Derek Pringle

Doing as you are told has become a way of life for modern cricketers as coaches continue to rule the roost, and nobody seemed more acquiescent, initially, than Woakes.

From the outside, this made him seem like the teacher’s pet (you wouldn’t catch him in dive bars), which was handy for getting picked in squads, but not much use for taking his game to the next level.

To achieve that players require a degree of self-determination, something Woakes has done with such success that he has achieved the one-day double of 1,000 runs and 100 wickets for England in fewer games than Andrew Flintoff, Ian Botham and Paul Collingwood – the three other cricketers in that club.

His ODI record should be safe for a while, even from Ben Stokes, who would need to take a near impossible 43 wickets in seven games to beat him (having already scored 1,000 runs in the format).

So what did Woakes do? Well having languished on the fringes of England’s red and white-ball teams for a few years, he decided to bowl quicker – a yard and a half quicker. Sounds easy doesn’t it, but it ain’t. But from this seemingly modest change everything else – a regular England place, riches in the Indian Premier League, the setting of one-day records – has flowed.

Before he made the increase, Woakes was around the 83mph mark, the same niche as Jimmy Anderson but without the same skills for swing. Adding a yard and half, the units cricketers use when measuring pace, equates to an extra 6-7 mph.