England all-rounder Chris Woakes is an excellent all-format player. He has won T20 World Cup as well as ODI World Cup with the Three Lions. He has been a part of IPL for many years now. However, the England all-rounder did not put his name up for auction last year in December.
That decision surprised many even when likes of Joe Root, Ben Stokes and Sam Curran, his fellow England teammates, forwarded their names to play in IPL 2023. Three months after the IPL auction, Woakes has finally opened up on why he decided to skip the auction this time. Woakes said that with a long Test season ahead, he felt switching from a T20s to Test cricket takes a toll on his body.
“One, my body whenever I have come back from the IPL before, I don’t feel I have come back in the best shape going into a Test summer. For me personally that jump from T20 to Test cricket is quite a big jump. I have always found that transition quite hard,” said the fast bowler.
This is an important year for England Test side. They are playing the Ashes vs Australia at home in June. The players want more prep time and with IPL finishing end of May, the prep period will be less. Woakes is in Bangladesh to play cricket matches after which he will fly back to play matches for his county side Warwickshire.
“I haven’t played Test cricket for a year, so I feel like I would need some overs under my belt to have the chance to knock on the door for selection in what is a tough team to get back into at the minute. That is a big part of it,” he added.
Woakes, a World Cup winner with England in the white-ball formats, has opted to skip the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League to return to County Championship side Warwickshire in his bid to make a test comeback.
Being forced to watch things from the sidelines, Woakes now wants to be in the mix for the Ashes, which will begin with the first Test at Edgbaston on June 16.
“I would love to be a part of it and I still feel my record in England stands up against anyone’s,” Woakes told British media on Wednesday.
“If I can get myself red-ball fit and firing and bowling well I’d like to think I’d be in the mix. It’s a tough side to get into, I recognise that, and have an opportunity at the start of the season to put in some performances.”
“Whenever I’ve come back from the IPL before, I don’t feel I’ve come back in the best shape going into the test summer,” he said.
“For me, that jump from T20 to Test cricket is quite a big jump and I have found that transition quite hard. It’s different for batters. It’s trickier for bowlers and all-rounders to go from tournament to tournament and still play for England.”