Woakes 'never considered' not batting for England

BBC News

8 hours ago

Chris Woakes said he "wouldn't have been able to live with himself" had he not tried to bat for England in the extraordinary finish to the fifth Test against India.The 36-year-old suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder on the first day at The Oval, yet still emerged to bat with his left arm in a sling on a dramatic final morning.England needed 17 runs when Woakes came out at number 11. He did not face a ball but ran four runs, before Gus Atkinson was bowled to give India a six-run victory and leave the series level at 2-2.Speaking to The Guardian,, external Woakes said: "I'm still gutted, devastated really, that we couldn't get the fairytale. But I never considered not going out there, even if it had been 100 runs still to win or whatever."But any other player would have done the same. You couldn't just call it off at nine wickets down."Woakes was the only member of the England pace attack to play in all five Tests against India. On the first evening of the fifth Test, he chased the ball to the boundary and suffered the suspected dislocation.Before the second day, the hosts ruled him out of the remainder of the match, but Woakes offered to bat in England's first innings, only to be knocked back by coach Brendon McCullum.On Sunday's fourth day, with England chasing a record 374 to win, he was pictured in the home dressing room in his whites, ready to bat.Woakes had practised in the nets, first in his usual right-handed stance, only to find that method was too painful. The Warwickshire man instead opted to bat left-handed, in order to put his healthy right arm at the top of the handle in control of the bat, and his injured left arm as far away from the ball as possible."I defended one normally [right-handed] and it was agony," he said. "We soon worked out that a left-hander's stance would shield the shoulder and at least allow me to sort of block with my top hand in control. I hit a few, missed a few, but it felt like the only way to survive."On Monday's fifth day, England were 17 runs adrift of victory when Josh Tongue was bowled to become the ninth wicket to fall. Though some security staff rushed on to the outfield, believing the game to be over, Woakes appeared from the dressing room to a hero's welcome from the crowd.
"I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I didn't try," he admitted."You just know you're part of something bigger. It's not just you that you're playing for out there. It's your team and your team-mates, all the hard work and the sacrifices they put in, the people watching at home and in the ground. You just feel a duty to do it for everyone."While Atkinson attempted to protect Woakes from the strike, he was still required to run. On the first occasion, a bye through to wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel, Woakes was instantly in clear discomfort."The first one was the worst," he said. "All I had taken was codeine and it was just so sore. Instinct took over here - even with my arm strapped down I tried to run as you naturally do. I genuinely worried my shoulder had popped back out again, hence you saw me throw my helmet off, rip the glove off with my teeth, and check it was OK."Woakes ran three more runs during his 16-minute stay at the crease. Despite his bravery, England missed out on a 3-1 series triumph and instead had to settle for a share of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy."It was bitter-sweet in the end," he added. "Part of me wondered what it might be like, to see if I could have defended the ball, seen out an over maybe, squeezed a run or carved a four."But the other side of it was, 'Thank God I didn't face a 90mph bouncer, one-handed, facing the wrong way around'."And I knew I was going to have to wear a few bouncers if I did get on strike. Those were the anxious feelings, really. You're still pretty exposed out there."Woakes is now waiting to discover the full extent of the injury, with his participation in this winter's Ashes series in severe doubt.His actions have been praised across the sporting world and he said "the love from the public has helped"."It's not the way you want to be front-page news - you'd sooner it was for five wickets or a century," added Woakes."It is so weird to go from the start of a Test week, thinking 'one last push', to ending up on a physio's table wondering what the future holds."