• Home
  • Player Stories
  • Thought The Ship Had Sailed Chris Woakes Reflects On Sacrificing Ipl For Test Comeback

'Thought The Ship Had Sailed': Chris Woakes Reflects on Sacrificing IPL for Test Comeback

image-ljzd1d6xChris Woakes and Mark Wood celebrate after guiding England to win at Headingley (Twitter)

England fast-bowling all-rounder, Chris Woakes, recently revealed that he believed his Test career was over before his exceptional performance in the third Ashes 2023 Test at Headingley. The 34-year-old expressed doubts about getting another opportunity, especially since England had performed well in his absence last year.


Woakes thought his Test career was over before Headingley heroics

Woakes put in an impressive all-round performance as England staged a comeback in the ongoing series at Headingley, securing a three-wicket victory. The 34-year-old took six wickets in the match and contributed a vital 32 runs in the second innings, enabling England to successfully chase the target and take the series to 2-1.

Injuries had sidelined Woakes during the previous summer when England began employing the ‘Bazball’ under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum which brought a lot of success in the longest format of the game. 

Despite missing out on last season, to make a comeback into the Test side, Woakes decided to forgo Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, a decision he is now content with.

Reflecting on his journey, the Birmingham-based cricketer admitted to feeling emotional and questioning whether his opportunities had passed, especially when the team performed admirably without him last summer. However, he reckoned that his decision not to go to India paid off, as he experienced a memorable performance at Headingley, validating his commitment.

"It’s hard, it's quite emotional actually. You sometimes think the ship has sailed, of course you do. Especially when the team is going so well last summer and I wasn’t involved, obviously I had injuries and stuff. You do wonder whether that ship has sailed. But I made a big decision at the start of summer not to go to India and, you know, it's days like I had at Headingley make that sort of decision pay off, comfortably," said Woakes while speaking to The Telegraph.

Meanwhile, the fourth Test between the two teams will commence on July 19 after a nine-day break at Old Trafford in Manchester. England has announced an unchanged squad for the match.