Chris Woakes has endured an injury-riddled previous few months however is now eyeing a spot in England’s line-up for his or her opening match on the T20 World Cup subsequent weekend.
After a busy schedule final winter, Woakes was restricted to only one look – in Warwickshire’s second XI – over the English summer time and underwent an operation on his left knee in late July.
Woakes admitted he had a tough time watching England’s Test and limited-overs sides from afar however he has put in encouraging performances on his comeback, first in Pakistan and now Australia.
While his three wickets within the third and closing T20 between England and Australia had been in useless after an abandonment because of rain in Canberra, the 33-year-old Woakes is contented to be again enjoying.
“When you get past 30 you don’t want to miss any cricket,” he mentioned.
“Earlier in your career, you have breaks and you quite enjoy them whereas this time round it felt like I was missing opportunities to be playing for England.
“It has been a tough six months, both physically with my knee and then mentally as well. I watch a lot of cricket, it’s not always best for you when you’re not going to be around the team.
“It’s just satisfying to be back amongst the squad and back playing for England. I’m just thoroughly enjoying it.”
Jos Buttler’s 65 not out off 41 balls fashioned the spine of England’s 112 for 2 on Friday night time in a fixture that was decreased to 17 then 12 overs after two downpours on the Manuka Oval.
Australia’s reply bought off to the worst doable begin, dropping Aaron Finch and Mitch Marsh from the primary two balls of their Duckworth-Lewis-Stern adjusted run-chase of 130 as Woakes took centre stage.
Woakes snared Glenn Maxwell in his subsequent over to gather T20-best figures of three for 4 earlier than the third deluge of the night time proved terminal as Australia completed on 30 for 3 from 3.5 overs – effectively behind on DLS however with seven extra balls nonetheless wanted to be bowled to represent a end result.
England stroll away with a confidence-boosting 2-0 sequence win over the defending world champions within the shortest format and can now head to Brisbane for a warm-up towards Pakistan on the Gabba on Monday.
They then journey to Perth for his or her first World Cup task towards Afghanistan subsequent Saturday, with Woakes hoping his new-ball abilities and all-round credentials can push him forward of his rivals for a spot.
“When I have batted I’ve shown what I can do, so that might be something that gives me the nod,” he mentioned. “It’s something I’ve always had in my locker, batting down the order.
“The batting line-up is pretty much set, I think, bowling we could go a number of different ways. Hopefully I’ve done enough. (Taking three wickets on Friday night) won’t have hurt.
“I try to keep it as simple as possible. Generally in T20 if you can get an early wicket then you’re on the front foot as a bowler.
“The powerplay can then become quite a nice place to bowl rather than a tricky one. Obviously if you don’t take wickets it can be a horrible one.”
While England appear to be hitting their straps forward of the World Cup, Woakes insisted they have to park their sequence win over Australia and give attention to the challenges forward.
“It’s always good to beat Australia,” Woakes added. “But we know we can’t think that just because we’ve won this series we’ll dominate the World Cup. It’s important that we reset.
“We beat Australia in the last World Cup (last year) and they went on to win the tournament and that’s how T20 cricket can be.
“The format’s tricky, you might (be able) to lose one but it’s going to be a tough tournament, and I think this series will be in the past – you’ve got to focus on what’s coming up.”
Source: www.impartial.co.uk