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An ode to the brave man: When lion-hearted Chris Woakes batted despite shoulder dislocation

Jatin

Woakes has called time on his international career [Source: @CricUniverse7/x.com]Woakes has called time on his international career [Source: @CricUniverse7/x.com]

There are cricketers who win you matches, and then there are cricketers who win you respect. Chris Woakes falls into that rare second bracket. The 36-year-old all-rounder has announced his retirement from international cricket after 15 years in England colours, but the way he bowed out will stay in memory for years. 

Woakes' last act in Test cricket wasn't about wickets or runs. It was about grit, guts and the kind of courage that makes fans fall in love with the game all over again.

Chris Woakes defied pain to face India in his last Test

It all happened on the first day of the fifth Test between England and India at The Oval. Fielding near the rope, Woakes dived full stretch to save a boundary. His foot slipped, his body tumbled, and his left shoulder popped out on impact.

The grimace on his face told the story straight away. England lost their key all-rounder for the rest of the match. Doctors feared surgery, selectors feared the worst, and the Ashes dream was all but gone.

Batting with one arm

But here's the thing about Woakes, he never threw in the towel. On the final day, with England chasing a tense target, he walked out at No. 11. His left arm was in a sling, his shoulder hanging loose, yet he came down the steps like a soldier ready for one last battle.

England needed 17 runs. He didn't face a ball, but he ran four priceless runs for his partner Gus Atkinson before the innings ended. India scraped home by six runs, the series was squared 2-2, but Woakes had already stolen hearts. It was cricket's rawest image of bravery, a man broken in body but unshaken in spirit.

The cruel ending

Many suspected in that moment that this was it. Whether or not he made it to the Ashes, it felt like England were moving in a new direction. That shoulder injury, sustained in such a freakish way, robbed him of a fair farewell.

Cruel as it may sound, that walk to the middle with one arm strapped in a sling has now become his final memory in an England shirt. If you needed proof of his lion's heart, there it was.

Chris Woakes’ stats

Woakes' numbers speak volumes. 62 Tests, 192 wickets, 2,034 runs with a century. In ODIs, 173 wickets in 122 games. Add 31 wickets in T20Is and you have got a true three-format performer.

At Lord's, the Home of Cricket, he was in a league of his own: one of just six men in history with a Test hundred, a five-for and a 10-wicket haul at the ground.

And when England's white-ball revolution hit full throttle, Woakes was at the heart of it. A World Cup winner in 2019. A T20 World Cup winner in 2022. One of only four Englishmen to play in both finals. That is some company.

Cricket has always been about skill, but every now and then, it is about spirit. Chris Woakes’ final act was written in courage, in sweat and in sheer defiance. To walk out one-armed, knowing the odds, knowing the pain, knowing the curtain was falling, that is the stuff that makes legends.

He may have signed off quietly, without a farewell party or lap of honour, but when you talk about men who gave it all for England, Chris Woakes will always be front and centre.