Selfless Chris Woakes keeps England’s rescue act alive in Ashes 2023

It was perfectly fitting that on a day when Chris Woakes was England’s standout performer, his exploits were overshadowed by Stuart Broad reaching the extraordinary milestone of 600 Test wickets.

Perhaps nothing could have been as succinct an encapsulation of his career, often diligently excelling in the shadows while a more storied teammate receives more praise and adulation.

This is not to denigrate Broad who, not for the first time in his career, is enjoying an excellent Ashes series – the wickets of Usman Khawaja and Travis Head crucial breakthroughs for England on a day they marginally shaded.

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However this was a day that belonged to Woakes, he finished it with figures of 4/52, not just ensuring that England’s decision to bowl first did not blow up in their faces but also keeping their high-wire Ashes comeback act alive.

Woakes started the series not in England’s side and without any enormous clamour for him to be so. He finished Day One at Old Trafford taking the second new ball for England and arguably one of the men most responsible for sparking his team’s turnaround in fortunes in this series.

Even on that front, Woakes has been overshadowed by the more eye-catching, glamorous option – his six top order wickets and nerveless second innings batting were at the heart of England’s victory in the last Test, only to be slightly trumped by Mark Wood’s fearsome 90+mph barrage and freewheeling six-hitting.

You sense though that Woakes, as long as he is helping England to wins in international cricket, does not begrudge the lack of limelight he receives – he is after all a man who has in the past removed himself from the IPL auction, and all the lucrative possibilities it could offer, just to give himself a chance of getting back into England’s Test plans.

Here at Old Trafford he was the man most responsible for ensuring England remained in the fight for this Test and the Ashes as a whole. Time and again he struck just when his team most needed it, helping them to finish the day probably just ahead with the score at 299/8.

Having seen off Stuart Broad and survived a few streaky early moments, David Warner might have thought his luck was changing in this series – he could not though survive Woakes’ opening spell.

With the first ball of his fourth over he struck, Warner powerless to do anything but edge the ball behind driving as Woakes artfully pushed the ball across him – Australia 61/2, a mini-recovery nipped in the bud.

It was Woakes’ fourth spell of the day however that had the biggest impact, Australia were 254/5, their brace of burly all-rounders at the crease and forming a handy partnership. The tourists had been unable to decide which of Mitchell Marsh or Cameron Green should play at Old Trafford so instead they took the perhaps controversial decision to drop their spinner and go with both.

With the pair batting nicely together in the afternoon sun, it was a decision that was looking like justifying itself at almost the earliest opportunity. Marsh and Green had put on 65 together from just 73 balls, and on their broad-shouldered backs Australia were threatening to carry the Ashes away.

Enter Woakes. With the first ball of that fourth spell he got Green, skidding the ball into his pads, DRS unable to save the Australian from the close LBW call. Four balls later he had Marsh too, an edge behind, a screamer of a catch from Jonny Bairstow, two in the over. Australia’s 254/5 suddenly became 255/7 – England back in front once again.

Entrusted with the second new ball he would strike once again before the close, the crucial wicket of Alex Carey nicked off behind, the last remaining recognised opposition batter dispatched, the final nudge that probably just tipped the balance of play in England’s favour.

After play though it was Broad who was put forward to speak to the media, his 600 Test wickets escapades rightfully lauded, another moment of Woakes greatness slightly forgotten in the excitement of another teammate’s achievements.

In a team with all-time greats such as Anderson and Broad, it is often easy to overlook that it is Woakes who has the better average of any of them with the ball in English Tests, a fairly remarkable 22.31 compared to Anderson’s 24.25 and Broad’s 25.79.

He and England will hope for more of the same as this Test rolls on, not the first all-rounder to shape the course of an Ashes series but almost certainly the most understated.