'The English winter was hard work’ – Chris Woakes
Chris Woakes is a useful player for any captain. He bowls the most difficult overs in the shorter formats of the game, has the ability to swing the ball at pace, can contribute with useful runs down the order and is swift on the field.
Woakes, 29, has been a regular face in England's Test and one-day international squads over the last few months, which have been a mixed bag for the Englishmen. They struggled in the five-day format with tough series losses in Australia and New Zealand, but were strong in the 50-over game. They first won the ODI series against Australia by a convincing 4-1 margin and then got the better of New Zealand in a keenly fought five-match series 3-2.
Though not always spectacular, Woakes has been consistent with both bat and ball when given the chance.
"The English winter was tough," admitted Woakes to a group of reporters on the sidelines of the Indian Premier League, where he is a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore. "Obviously we played a lot of Test cricket away in Australia and New Zealand, which was hard work.
"I had a really good winter with the white ball and coming here I felt in good rhythm. It’s been nice to pick up wickets, and would have been nice to go for a few less runs. But you know that’s the nature of the game, you are going to go for the odd boundary, particularly when you’re bowling in the Powerplay and death overs."
More often than not in the last few months, Woakes has been given the task of bowling the toughest overs in white-ball cricket for England. Now, Bangalore too look to him to deliver at the death.
One trick to bowling well in the death overs is to be as unpredictable as possible. Bowlers have come up with variations to gain the upper-hand, the latest one being the knuckle delivery.
Woakes said he was working on adding new variations to his repertoire, but insisted that they worked only if used as a surprise weapon.
"It’s a very good delivery (knuckle ball) if you can bowl it well," he said. "The main thing with your variations is that you deceive the batsmen and you disguise them well. If you can bowl a knuckle ball but the batsman can see it very easily, then it’s not a good delivery. But if you can disguise it and it’s a surprise to the batsman, then it is a good delivery.
"It’s something which I’m continuing to work on, trying to improve my game. But yes, variations are key, particularly in these conditions with small grounds, good batsmen, good surfaces. You need to try and be able to deceive the batsmen."
The 11th edition of the IPL features 12 Englishmen turning out for the various teams. Woakes was confident that the experience gained by playing against the best in the business would benefit the English game.
"It’s brilliant that the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) have allowed us to come and play and it’s great that franchises are picking England players. I think it shows where our white-ball game has come in the last couple of years that guys are getting picked up for large amounts in the auctions, which is great for the game."
Woakes, who has Moeen Ali as his teammate in Bangalore, and has faced off against the likes of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler so far in the tournament, said that when pitted against his countrymen, there was a keenness to do better.
"You don’t want to be hurt by a teammate on the field," he said. "As a bowler, you don’t want them to be smashing you around the park and hitting you into the stands.
"It gives you that extra incentive to do well, try and get them out or, if you are a batsman, to try and smash them everywhere. It’s always a good little battle when you come up against your teammates from England."