Is Chris Woakes a world class A/R or is it another case of Pakistanis making someone a superstar?

[Sandeep]

There it goes again.

Futile attempt from you. They're not going to admit Woakes is decent enough and doesn't require help from Pakistan all the time. One poster goes on to discredit Stokes' 258 calling it a 'slogfest'. I'm out of this thread.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

A very good bowler he will be and a test no.8 . Real question is what is Moeen doing in this lineup when england have Stokeas and Woakes?

 

[Dr_Bassim]

Futile attempt from you. They're not going to admit Woakes is decent enough and doesn't require help from Pakistan all the time. One poster goes on to discredit Stokes' 258 calling it a 'slogfest'. I'm out of this thread.

That's just one poster.

Most of the people here rate Stokes.

You can't please everyone.

There is a poster here who considers Afridi best ever. Does that make him logical? But it's his opinion.

Stokes is a good all-rounder with a major potential to be Flintoff type or even better.

 

[Robert]

A very good bowler he will be and a test no.8 . Real question is what is Moeen doing in this lineup when england have Stokeas and Woakes?

Given that the England seam/swing attack is very good, I would pick Rashid instead and use him the way Yorkshire do - keep him out of the firing line in the first innings until the tail is exposed for him to mop up, then give him a good long bowl second innings.

 

[Slog]

That Pakistan somehow have this unique ability to 'make players look good', a notion designed to keep Pakistan at the centre of attention and denigrate the quality performance of many a hard-working cricketer. Definitely arrogance and it has been going on for years on the forum.

This is based on historical evidence so certainly not a one off.

The last decade has been filled with players who didn't have great careers going into series' against Pakistan, played like world beaters against Pakistan and then soon enough went back to their previous performance levels after the series against us finished.

No intention of arrogance. No body would call Root or Cook's performance as anything but world class performance by world class batsmen

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Given that the England seam/swing attack is very good, I would pick Rashid instead and use him the way Yorkshire do - keep him out of the firing line in the first innings until the tail is exposed for him to mop up, then give him a good long bowl second innings.

Pesonally i think England should just play an additional seamer and go with a 4 prong pace attack. Maybe Mark wood? And stokes can be the fifth bowler. Wouldn't that be better than playing a spinner just for the sake of it?

 

[Sandeep]

That's just one poster.

Most of the people here rate Stokes.

You can't please everyone.

There is a poster here who considers Afridi best ever. Does that make him logical? But it's his opinion.

Stokes is a good all-rounder with a major potential to be Flintoff type or even better.

I'm sorry if I offended the rational posters. There are these usual suspects on either side and that post is for all of them.

 

[HitWicket]

woakes is in the team as a bowler(3rd seamer)Would he be in the team as a batsman, i think not. Therefore, he is not a genuine allrounder. Many guys have done this in the past i.e. bowlers who can bat a bit are they all allrounders eg flintof, akram etc. Someone here mention kyle abbot as another example. Like mmhs said hes a bit and pieces player(look at his record before this series and the SL series, 2 very weak batting line ups in uk conditions)
And lets see how he does in the future and maybe you can call him a bowling allrounder if he continues to do well in both.

I apologise, stokes has a sachinest beauty when hes batting. A textbook technique and flawless defence.

Happy now?

bookmark this page and in 3 years time we'll see if stokes is englands new botham or the new flintof (and please dont say flintoff was a world class allrounder, cos then im just gonna give up!)

If you're really as clueless as to term stokes as a slogger then I seriously doubt you've ever actually watched him play test cricket or have serious misunderstandings of the term slogger.

By your own definition there has been next to no genuine all rounders in the history of the game. For me a genuine all rounder is anyone who is capable of batting in the top 7 of the majority of test teams in the world, which Woakes and Stokes do with ease.

 

[Executioner]

Geez man what are u talking about?
Aswin and shakib are world class allrounders?
Matthews can bat but he bowls like anwar ali , so add anwar to your list as well.
Sokes can bowl but hes just a slogger.

World class all rounders were kallis, ik and kapil not these guys!

Kallis, IK and Kapil were ATGs who played a lot of cricket. Shakib is already an established quality A/R and he has the stats to show for it. Has been topping the charts for 10 years or so. As for Ashwin, as a bowler he is decent in all formats. Batting substandard in LOIs but in tests he is quite effective. So yes, you can say Ashwin is World class test AR. Both are in their late 20s and extremely fit so about 10 more years of cricket left in them.

And mathews is a far more effective bowler than Anwar Ali. While Anwar is supposed to be a more of a frontline bowler, he bowls a lot of pies. Mathews as a bowler has limited potential but he bowls within his abilities and reaps the rewards. His bowling is decent at best still.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Has shown a massive improvement this summer since he has come into the side, he keeps his batting simple and plays straight and always respects the bowling so will get runs, Also the extra yard of pace and his ability to swing ball both ways will help him in these conditions, he will become a handy cricketer.

 

[SL_Fan]

Very handy cricketer in all formats. Genuine all-rounder. Has improved leaps and bounds with both the ball and bat.

 

[zoro]

Kallis, IK and Kapil were ATGs who played a lot of cricket. Shakib is already an established quality A/R and he has the stats to show for it. Has been topping the charts for 10 years or so. As for Ashwin, as a bowler he is decent in all formats. Batting substandard in LOIs but in tests he is quite effective. So yes, you can say Ashwin is World class test AR. Both are in their late 20s and extremely fit so about 10 more years of cricket left in them.

And mathews is a far more effective bowler than Anwar Ali. While Anwar is supposed to be a more of a frontline bowler, he bowls a lot of pies. Mathews as a bowler has limited potential but he bowls within his abilities and reaps the rewards. His bowling is decent at best still.

i rate ashwin as a bowler, especially in asia. I believe he started his career as an opener, so i know he can bat. I would call him a bowling allrounder but the label world class spinner sounds much better to me than bowling allrounder.

Shakib i rate as an odi allrounder. But its hard to rate him in tests when hes team hasnt done too well in that format and shakibs performances are skewed in that format.

Matthews is a wonderful batsman but just a trundler as a bowler. Laugh as you will but anwars a better bowler than matthews but i do NOT rate anwar before someone sys that.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

He is a yard quicker since last year and has got more accurate. His batting has always been test #8 standard. I wouldn't put him higher. I think he can get regular fifties and will get a century or two by the time he finishes.

He seems to be able to make the ball go both ways too, something I've always been critical of Pakistan bowlers who tend to have one big impact delivery which they go to again and again and any smart batsmen will devise a plan to counter it.

Woakes looks like a clean striker too. He might fade, but at the moment he looks a very useful all rounder.

 

[zoro]

If you're really as clueless as to term stokes as a slogger then I seriously doubt you've ever actually watched him play test cricket or have serious misunderstandings of the term slogger.

By your own definition there has been next to no genuine all rounders in the history of the game. For me a genuine all rounder is anyone who is capable of batting in the top 7 of the majority of test teams in the world, which Woakes and Stokes do with ease.

GENUINE ALLROUNDER would bat at #6 or above and be one of your main strike bowlers eg imran, kapil, kallis(though he concentrated more on his batting)..
Woakes and sokes are back up bowlers but if woakes continues his good form, then can be considered a main bowler, not the case for stokes.
woakes is a number 8 batsmen and stokes is a number 6/7 batsmen i.e. borderline allrounder standard bat. But i am dismissive of him as he plays too many shots , YOU can call it being an aggressive batsman, I will refer to as a slogger!
Anyway, dont know what stokes icc ranking for batting is but his ranked, as of now, 25th n the icc rankings as a bowler and 5th as an allrounder just behind the GOAT stuart broad whose ranked 3rd best allrounder in the world!
Enough said!

 

[HitWicket]

GENUINE ALLROUNDER would bat at #6 or above and be one of your main strike bowlers eg imran, kapil, kallis(though he concentrated more on his batting)..
Woakes and sokes are back up bowlers but if woakes continues his good form, then can be considered a main bowler, not the case for stokes.
woakes is a number 8 batsmen and stokes is a number 6/7 batsmen i.e. borderline allrounder standard bat. But i am dismissive of him as he plays too many shots , YOU can call it being an aggressive batsman, I will refer to as a slogger!
Anyway, dont know what stokes icc ranking for batting is but his ranked, as of now, 25th n the icc rankings as a bowler and 5th as an allrounder just behind the GOAT stuart broad whose ranked 3rd best allrounder in the world!
Enough said!

If Woakes was in nearly any other team in the world then hed be the number 6 batsman generally taking the position that Stokes currently is for England. Both are genuine all rounders in my view because of that but someone like Broad is a bowling all rounder (although that may be debatable nowadays given the slight loss of technique hes had).

I assume you dismiss batsmen such as Warner as sloggers as well then. Starting to look like Root I'd a slogger as well perhaps given his rapidly rising SR in test cricket as of late.

 

[zoro]

If Woakes was in nearly any other team in the world then hed be the number 6 batsman generally taking the position that Stokes currently is for England. Both are genuine all rounders in my view because of that but someone like Broad is a bowling all rounder (although that may be debatable nowadays given the slight loss of technique hes had).

I assume you dismiss batsmen such as Warner as sloggers as well then. Starting to look like Root I'd a slogger as well perhaps given his rapidly rising SR in test cricket as of late.

Woakes would only be a no 6 for pakistan for every other decent test team his a no 8, though his had a good series with the bat.
roots not a slogger geneally, but he got incredlble criticism for get ting out to a slog sweep in the first test and was blamed for england losing the test.
Look, in test matches its good to bat positively but thers a thin line between being aggressive and slogging and i think stokes is on the slogger side of the line but that doesnt mean that he cant step back over the line and be a aggressive batsman, but to do that takes great willpower as root did in his 254 where he refused to play the slog sweep after getting so much criticism. NOTE the shots name is even got slog in its name - slog sweep!
Warner plays both aggressively and as a slogger ,when he gets carried away, usually to his downfall, in the same innings!

 

[SLcric123]

Stokes is still better IMO.

 

[HitWicket]

Woakes would only be a no 6 for pakistan for every other decent test team his a no 8, though his had a good series with the bat.

Consider that Woakes has played all his FC cricket in county cricket at division 1 level, therefore probably a higher standard than any bar Australia. He averages 37.46 with 9 hundreds at this level. Go tell me any other current test team in the world who have a number 8 with stats in any way comparable to this.

 

[The_Odd_One]

He is good but not as good as Pakistan has made him look.

Poor man's Shaun Pollock

 

[Robert]

Woakiee has taken 18 wickets in two tests, average 11.7.

 

[leatherface58]

Woakes would be an opening batsman for Pakistan. His fast bowling talent would give him legendary status after just a few games. There would be threads comparing him to every legendary all rounder. Threads burying Kapil, Botham, Hadlee would be created alarmingly.

Ultimately, all the fame would have gone to his head. He is a good lad but the amount of hero worship in subcontinent can go in anyone's head.

Always thought he was very good. He thankfully got an opportunity to show his class.

 

[Markhor]

Its quite a turnaround. He looked like a gentle, up-and-down trundler in South Africa, so much so that Bob Willis gave him 0/10 in his post-series review and was "lucky to get that" !

However he's increased his pace, now bowling in the high-80s and can swing the ball both ways. As a batsman he's very organised with a solid technique. I was impressed how he played Yasir, kept a straight bat whilst dealt with the left-arm angle by our three seamers quite comfortably. Would walk into our Test side at the moment, we are crying out for an all rounder in his mould.

When you add up Anderson, Broad, Woakes and Stokes along with the reserve pacers like Wood and Plunkett, maybe Finn regaining his form in the future, it does show England have impressive depth of fast bowlers at the moment.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

He will come back to planet earth once he starts bowling to actual batsmen.

 

[Robert]

Fully agreed. I'm sorry but Woakes is a quality county bowler. He's in the form of his life against a strangled, negative and technically bemused top order. Some of the deliveries he is taking wickets with wouldn't dislodge an Aussie no. 11.

That is disrespectful all-round: to Woakes and the Pakistan batters.

 

[Ab Fan]

Woakes would be an opening batsman for Pakistan. His fast bowling talent would give him legendary status after just a few games. There would be threads comparing him to every legendary all rounder. Threads burying Kapil, Botham, Hadlee would be created alarmingly.

Ultimately, all the fame would have gone to his head. He is a good lad but the amount of hero worship in subcontinent can go in anyone's head.

Always thought he was very good. He thankfully got an opportunity to show his class.

)))

U rock man..Woakes an opening batsmen for Pak..)

 

[Boom boom legend]

Just a line and length bowler nothing more. Does not have express pace or the ability to intimidate and blast through a team. Just like Cook said about Yasir, we gifted him most wickets. Will get found out abroad or even in 3rd test if we do homework and play him right. Unbelievable how England can over hype their players over a couple of good performances.

 

[#GreenRoars]

World Class AR, NO. But WC for Pakistan, Yes

 

[Hawkeye]

Chris Woakes is the next Imran Khan in the making

...or Ian Botham, if you want it that way.

But, he's a great strike bowler, and an excellent batsman too, which for me leans towards Imran Khan's ability. Heck, he bowls better than England's primary attack bowlers Broad/Anderson!

This guy can take dismantle an entire batting lineup (IK-esque) and bat at above 35 average.

Forget those Ben Stokes, Mitch Marshes etc. Stokes is at least 3 levels below as a bowler and hit or miss bat.

Woakes is the real deal and will become the best allrounder of this era.

 

[Hawkeye]

This summer,

Bowling avg: 15
Batting avg: 46

Unreal. :sobers

 

[Rana]

LOL he will also build a hospital and become and run for Prime Minister

 

[JibranAnsari]

Can be better .. Botham may be. Botham was the ultimate all rounder for the first half of his career.

 

[Hawkeye]

LOL he will also build a hospital and become and run for Prime Minister

This is a serious thread.

Can be better .. Botham may be. Botham was the ultimate all rounder for the first half of his career.

IK wasn't at his peak at the start of his career, he developed into a beast later.

And that was an ultimate allrounder. It's rare to have a strike FAST bowler and a good bat. IK was way above everyone as a bowler.

So is Woakes. Though yet to be tested in Asia.

 

[street cricketer]

Lol is this a jinx thread to prevent Woakes from getting wickets?

 

[LowKiiSavage]

Sometimes it feels like the OP tries to throw different predictions at the wall hoping for one of them to stick.

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

 

[Hawkeye]

Lol is this a jinx thread to prevent Woakes from getting wickets?

Not a jinx at all.

I admire Woakes, actually!

Sometimes it feels like the OP tries to throw different predictions at the wall hoping for one of them to stick.

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Why so sad?

The players I truly back (& not sarcastic about) turn out to be gems. Deal with it.

And players I call out as poor prove me too - people realized how bad Shehzad is quite late. You know it I've been calling him out due to his club-level technique.

 

[Strike Rate]

There he is again making it happen for England

 

[Slog]

Now he has the most number of wickets by an Englishman in a single series.

Surely he can't be the best ever English bowler we've faced

 

[New Yorker]

Just a line and length bowler nothing more. Does not have express pace or the ability to intimidate and blast through a team. Just like Cook said about Yasir, we gifted him most wickets. Will get found out abroad or even in 3rd test if we do homework and play him right. Unbelievable how England can over hype their players over a couple of good performances.

You wouldn't be a Wahab fan by any chance? Please stop confusing cricket with boxing.

Tellingly, Woakes has already made us forget that annoying Flintoff fellow.

 

[Robert]

This is based on historical evidence so certainly not a one off.

The last decade has been filled with players who didn't have great careers going into series' against Pakistan, played like world beaters against Pakistan and then soon enough went back to their previous performance levels after the series against us finished.

e.g. Ashley Giles....

 

[Robert]

Tellingly, Woakes has already made us forget that annoying Flintoff fellow.

Us? They are completely different types of players. Flintoff had three years when he was the best all-rounder in the world. Otherwise he was a stock bowler who nobody liked facing because it hurt, and who helped the guy at the other end take wickets. He was always a brilliant slip catcher.

Woakes is a test match #8 who is a reliable FM swing bowler.

 

[New Yorker]

Us? They are completely different types of players. Flintoff had three years when he was the best all-rounder in the world. Otherwise he was a stock bowler who nobody liked facing because it hurt, and who helped the guy at the other end take wickets. He was always a brilliant slip catcher.

Woakes is a test match #8 who is a reliable FM swing bowler.

I stand corrected. The English will never forget The Great Yorkshire Pudding.

Whereas the rest of the world can't help but wonder what all the fuss was about.

 

[hk031992]

I stand corrected. The English will never forget The Great Yorkshire Pudding.

Whereas the rest of the world can't help but wonder what all the fuss was about.

well as a Pakistani i would have loved to have a Flintoff in our team. Sure, his injuries took a toll on him but he was an amazing player when he was on.

 

[Robert]

I stand corrected. The English will never forget The Great Yorkshire Pudding.

Whereas the rest of the world can't help but wonder what all the fuss was about.

Yorkshire? Eh?

 

[New Yorker]

Yorkshire? Eh?

Sorry I'm not a native son. Lancs Pudding? Something with mutton and beer in it.
Keeps for about an Ashes series and reheats for ever?

 

[New Yorker]

well as a Pakistani i would have loved to have a Flintoff in our team. Sure, his injuries took a toll on him but he was an amazing player when he was on.

Afridi was also an amazing player when he was on.

The question is, would you rather have Flintoff or Woakes or Stokes or Ashwin or even Ali?

Flintoff was English, it was the Ashes, and 'tis was low tide for Test allrounders. But even in his time Kallis was still better.

 

[hk031992]

Afridi was also an amazing player when he was on.

The question is, would you rather have Flintoff or Woakes or Stokes or Ashwin or even Ali?

Flintoff was English, it was the Ashes, and 'tis was low tide for Test allrounders. But even in his time Kallis was still better.

no comparison between Afridi and Flintoff

Flintoff was one of the best pacers in the world for a brief 2-3 years. Afridi, despite his stats, was always a decent spinner against the good sides, not great by any means.

I will also take Kallis as a better all rounder than Flintoff. Not sure about Stokes and Woakes, too early to tell, i don't think they have quite had the impact Flintoff did.

 

[Slog]

Again

Maybe he is real deal after all

Dominating on a pitch where everyone else is going 6+ am ove

 

[aloo paratha]

Most of the wickets have been gifted to him in this innings. Enjoying his batsmens work

 

[Slog]

thoughts?

 

[Hasan123]

Of course he has improved by we made him look better than he was. Next year vs South Africa will be a good test for him.

 

[The_Odd_One]

Brilliant come back by Woakes. England made a mistake by dropping him. He's a match winner with both bat and ball.

 

[aloo paratha]

His bowling was better before he got a side strain last summer, before that he was a genuine 140 kph swing bowler, now he's bowling in the low 130s, but still has great swing.

 

[Usman]

The challenge is when not playing in England, when the ball is not swinging and the pitch is slow for batting. So far in his career, Woakes has performed terribly in those conditions. Maybe it's a mental block, because he clearly has the talent.

 

[ManFan]

The challenge is when not playing in England, when the ball is not swinging and the pitch is slow for batting. So far in his career, Woakes has performed terribly in those conditions. Maybe it's a mental block, because he clearly has the talent.

He’s the one bowler besides Rabada who troubled Warner even in Australia.

 

[Usman]

He’s the one bowler besides Rabada who troubled Warner even in Australia.

Regardless of who he may have troubled, Nas and Athers today discussed his overseas performance and concluded he has been very poor abroad. He averages just 23 with the ball in the UK and 46 with the bat - probably nudged that up even more with today's performance. Overseas he averages over 60 with the ball and barely 20 with the bat.

I'm afraid his failures abroad are a documented fact. The issue is that he is great with a Duke in his hand but very poor with a Kookaburra. He needs to find a way to fix that. That said, even Anderson has had his struggles with the Kookaburra so it's not a problem limited to Woakes by any means.

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Regardless of who he may have troubled, Nas and Athers today discussed his overseas performance and concluded he has been very poor abroad. He averages just 23 with the ball in the UK and 46 with the bat - probably nudged that up even more with today's performance. Overseas he averages over 60 with the ball and barely 20 with the bat.

I'm afraid his failures abroad are a documented fact. The issue is that he is great with a Duke in his hand but very poor with a Kookaburra. He needs to find a way to fix that. That said, even Anderson has had his struggles with the Kookaburra so it's not a problem limited to Woakes by any means.

Yes but he can improve. Wonderful player to have.
He has almost on his own sealed a series win vs the no 1 team.

 

[James]

Given that the England seam/swing attack is very good, I would pick Rashid instead and use him the way Yorkshire do - keep him out of the firing line in the first innings until the tail is exposed for him to mop up, then give him a good long bowl second innings.

This turned out to be quite the prophetic post!

 

[James]

23 with the ball and 46 with the bat are outrageous averages. Sounds like he is now an automatic pick for every home Test, but what’s to be done about this awful away record?

 

[BunnyRabbit]

His bowling was better before he got a side strain last summer, before that he was a genuine 140 kph swing bowler, now he's bowling in the low 130s, but still has great swing.

He is sort of that bowler whose pace starts going up after he plays a lot. If he plays consistently a series or two, i expect it to go back to 140kph. His outswinger is as beautiful as peak Hilfenhaus'

 

[MenInG]

Fast bowler Chris Woakes believes that Jofra Archer's arrival in the side, and his subsequent performances, have sparked a healthy competition within England's bowlers to retain their place in the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2019 squad.

England have a long line of talented pacers, who have been performing extremely well over the last couple of years and supporting their strong batting line-up.

"The batters have obviously set the benchmark over the last few years, there's always been competition for places there - more so maybe than the bowling - and this, I suppose, has done the same for the bowlers," he said. "It's always good to have competition; at the international level, that's always going to be the case."

The 30-year-old, who debuted for England in 2011, has been a regular feature of the ODI side. He has 121 wickets in 87 ODIs. He put on a terrific display in the third ODI against Pakistan on Tuesday, 14 May, picking up 4/67 in 10 overs.

However, when asked after the match if he felt that his place in the World Cup squad was safe, Woakes said: "Safe is probably not the word, but you always feel like you need to put in performances, and I'm pleased I managed to put in a good performance today.

"You hope you are safe, but I suppose until that squad's selected, you're not. Hopefully, I am, but we'll see."

Woakes reckoned that England's selectors would have a tough call to make, as the 23 May deadline for naming the final squad draws closer. "Someone, unfortunately, will miss out, but we don't sit in the dressing room talking about, 'is it going to be me?', 'is it going to be you?' I think everyone knows it's there and it's creating a good competitive edge to the team, but we don't talk about who is going to miss out and who is going to be selected."

England have two ODIs left against Pakistan. After that series concludes, on 19 May, they will play two warm-up matches, against Australia and Afghanistan, before starting their World Cup campaign on 30 May against South Africa at The Oval.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/1221212

 

[giri26]

'Safe is probably not the word' – Woakes on his place in the CWC19 squad

England have a long line of talented pacers, who have been performing extremely well over the last couple of years and supporting their strong batting line-up.

"The batters have obviously set the benchmark over the last few years, there's always been competition for places there - more so maybe than the bowling - and this, I suppose, has done the same for the bowlers," he said. "It's always good to have competition; at the international level, that's always going to be the case."

The 30-year-old, who debuted for England in 2011, has been a regular feature of the ODI side. He has 121 wickets in 87 ODIs. He put on a terrific display in the third ODI against Pakistan on Tuesday, 14 May, picking up 4/67 in 10 overs.

However, when asked after the match if he felt that his place in the World Cup squad was safe, Woakes said: "Safe is probably not the word, but you always feel like you need to put in performances, and I'm pleased I managed to put in a good performance today.

"You hope you are safe, but I suppose until that squad's selected, you're not. Hopefully, I am, but we'll see."

Woakes reckoned that England's selectors would have a tough call to make, as the 23 May deadline for naming the final squad draws closer. "Someone, unfortunately, will miss out, but we don't sit in the dressing room talking about, 'is it going to be me?', 'is it going to be you?' I think everyone knows it's there and it's creating a good competitive edge to the team, but we don't talk about who is going to miss out and who is going to be selected."

England have two ODIs left against Pakistan. After that series concludes, on 19 May, they will play two warm-up matches, against Australia and Afghanistan, before starting their World Cup campaign on 30 May against South Africa at The Oval.

https://www.cricketworldcup.com/news/en/1221212

 

[MenInG]

Woakes shows just why he's England’s ‘Mr Perfect’


What was that they said about nice guys coming last? Because Chris Woakes conclusively disproves the age-old theory.

You’d struggle to find someone with a bad word to say about the England seamer, approachable, humble and the sort of player who’d probably mutter an embarrassed apology as he sent your middle stumping cartwheeling towards the boundary.

Woakes will give you ten overs of good honest sweat and toil and leave the field with not a single hair out of place, no wonder his team-mates call him ‘Mr Perfect’.

But with ball in hand, he’s an amiable assassin, just ask Australia’s David Warner and Peter Handscomb, his principle victims in a man of the match display.

Woakes dispatched both, as his brilliant opening spell with Jofra Archer laid the foundation for an eight-wicket win over the defending champions that secured England’s place in a first ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final in 27 years.

Just 24 hours after New Zealand’s Trent Boult and Matt Henry had stunned India’s top order with a hostile - and ultimately decisive - spell of aggressive fast bowling, Woakes and Archer followed their lead.

In cricket’s perennial battle between bat and ball, let’s hear it for the bowlers. What a prospect to savour ahead of Sunday’s final at Lord’s.

Aaron Finch and Warner have been the most prolific opening partnership of this tournament, putting on 123 for the first wicket in their 64-run group stage win over the hosts.

They’ve combined to bludgeon runs from Bristol to Nottingham and all points south and north in recent weeks but they came off distinctly second best in England’s second city.

And, just 16 balls into the match, both were trudging back to the pavilion, Finch later admitting it was the ultimately the moment all was lost.

Archer, who leads England’s World Cup wicket-takers with 19 scalps and has more dot balls than any other bowler, produced a brilliant inswinger to remove the Australian captain with his first ball. And then Woakes, at his Edgbaston home ground, struck with two wickets in three overs.

First, he produced a prancing bouncer that Warner could only fend to second slip and then Handscomb was left totally flat-footed by a delivery than nipped back and splayed his wickets into splinters.

When these two sides met at Lord’s just 16 days ago, England’s bowlers took some criticism for not doing more with the new ball.

But captain Eoin Morgan has always said they learn more from defeats than wins. And, since that match, England have been unstoppable, with consecutive victories against India, New Zealand and now Australia returning them to their sport’s biggest stage with the swaggering confidence of recent years restored.

This was an England bowling display with all the trimmings - they pitched it short, they pitched it up, Adil Rashid fired down a succession of unplayable googlies for three wickets and Archer unleashed a brilliant knuckle ball, which left Glenn Maxwell beaten and bemused.

But for a display of trademark stubbornness by Steve Smith, who kept his head and wicket while all around him where losing theirs, it could have been much worse for Australia.

Both sides had highlighted the importance of the first ten overs - and England delivered on the talk, with ball and with bat.

And concerns about their ability to chase, worries also now comprehensively disproven, were swatted aside as Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow got Edgbaston jumping, karaoke tunes punctuated by a succession of brutal boundaries, including three consecutive sixes by Roy.

Fireworks blazed in the Birmingham sky as Morgan hit the winning runs, a gleeful rather giddy chorus of ‘Cricket’s Coming Home’ drowning out the big bangs.

But, in truth, the real pyrotechnics had come much earlier the day and when Woakes and Archer are in this form, it pays to admire from a safe distance.

 

[Hasan123]

He is a important player for England in white ball cricket. He knows where to bowl with the new ball and how to keep things tight. Also is useful with the bat.

A player who I didn’t rate but he has proven me wrong. Very underrated imo.

 

[Majestic_Inzi]

He is a important player for England in white ball cricket. He knows where to bowl with the new ball and how to keep things tight. Also is useful with the bat.

A player who I didn’t rate but he has proven me wrong. Very underrated imo.

In home conditions hes very good.

 

[sweep_shot]

I personally think that he is slightly overrated. Stokes is better.

 

[Artaxerxes]

He is a very good new ball bowler.He knows where to bowl and usually takes early wickets.

 

[Saj]

I wish we had a player of this calibre.

Great with the new ball, able to bowl well at the death, useful with the bat and a very good fielder.

 

[gazza619]

I dont rate his batting much, a very improved bowler.

No where near World Class but mighty effective.