'It's Quite Emotional': Woakes Relishes Fresh Chance Of Ashes Glory

All-rounder feared his Test chances were gone but he has become central to England’s hopes of a series turnaround

- Ali Martin

Had bad light not intervened at the Oval 10 years ago to a chorus of dismay, Chris Woakes might well have tasted the high of hitting the winning runs in an Ashes Test before last Sunday.

But his Test career since that thwarted run chase on debut in 2013, one that has coincided with those of Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad, plus the mighty Ben Stokes in the all-rounder stakes, has required a good deal of patience along the way; one of the many virtues that had so many rooting for the Brummie Botham at Headingley.

Those scenes, as Woakes crashed Mitchell Starc square for four to secure England's three-wicket win, also rewarded the nostalgists among them; the Western Terrace rising as one - bar the pockets of green and gold - and Nasser Hussain calling the slow-motion replay just as he did for Stokes in 2019. "I felt a tiny bit how [Ben] felt at Headingley last time round," Woakes said. "It was just amazing to get over the line and beat them."