“I Could not have been living with myself if I didn’t try, “says Chris Woakes, only 48 hours after he had walked to a standing ovation at the oval, left arm in a pendulum, bat in his hand, ready to push the pain of a disrupted shoulder to get the victory.
It can be thwarted, with India as a victor through a slender six points to bring one of the most exciting series in recent times to an end in a 2-2 draw. But the selfless act of exceeding the border with a potential career -threatening injury meant that Woakes came in in the Folklore cricket – in 1963 in the Colin Cowdrey, Paul Terry and Malcolm Marshall in 1984, and Rishabh Pantord.
“I don’t know what it is,” says Woakes, at home in Birmingham and awaiting further scans on the injury. “You just know that you are part of something bigger. You are not only what you play for. It is your team and your teammates, all the hard work and the sacrifices they made, the people who look at home and in the ground. You just feel a duty to do it for everyone.”
That sense of duty led the 36-year-old Zeeman to be immediately praised as a national hero, with praise from the whole world and the image of the one-armed Batsman of England who made news on the front page. For Woakes there is a mixture of pride and frustration, in which the team had been at a moving distance from a monumental chase of 374 runs and a 3-1 series victory.
“I was still eroded, really destroyed that we couldn’t get the fairy tale. But I never thought about going outside there, even if it had been 100 runs to win or whatever. It was nice to have the ovation and some of the Indian players came by to show their respect.
Woakes went out with 17 runs and did not have to make episode before Gus Atkinson was bent by the unstoppable Mohammed Siraj to end a dramatic match. But simply performing the points of his partner – something he was not charged when he tried to find out how he could batter – was unbearable and took place four times.
“The first was the worst,” he says. “The only thing I had taken was codeine and it was just so painful. Instinct took it here – even with my arm tied up, I tried to run as you naturally do. I was really afraid that my shoulder came out again, that is why you saw me throwing me away with my teeth and checked that it was good.”
It was a serious injury, no doubt, sustained on the first evening of the series decision -maker when Woakes – the only English sailor who played all five tests – pursued a ball who ran to the border, just to land awkwardly while he took it back. A run was indeed saved, but the costs exceeded it far.
“We chase each run,” Woakes explains.
“That has always been the way. As Bowler, you really respect guys trying to save every run. It means a lot for you. So you do the same for the team. And a tight game like that – only six runs the difference – shows how they all add.
“The outfield was wet with rain, almost greasy, and my hand slid out when I landed and my full body weight went through my shoulder. I heard a doll and knew I was in trouble.
“The pain arrived fairly quickly and my arm just hung there. It was grim and my thoughts were racing.” Is the game left? Is the career done? ” It was a terrible place to be.
What follows sounds completely unbearable, with Anita Biswas, the English team doctor, and Ben Davies, the physiotherapist, who spend the next 30 minutes in the dressing room to get the shoulder back.
Woakes remembers: “It is a terrible feeling, your shoulder not where it should be and worry that it might never come back. It felt like three hours, but the medical staff was great.
“I had this vape pen that tasted the rank but the lead took place.
“In the end it was just a case of lying on my back and Anita gradually straightened my arm and trying that way. We thought we had it with a ‘clunk’, but then my chest muscle was spasmed and rejected it. That was terrible. Another 10 minutes, with her knee in my arm spit, there was another ‘clunk’ and it was also too
Woakes went to A&E that evening in the St George’s Hospital in Toting for an X -ray to confirm that there was no break before he returned to his wife, Amie, and their two young children in the team hotel. Needless to say, sleeping was almost impossible that night, but he reported back to the oval the next morning.
It was during the first innings of England that day, on four wickets lower, when Woakes Brendon McCullum was approaching for the first time to say that he would be willing to go out to batten if he was called. “Not a chance, boss,” came the head coach’s answer. “Park and we will see where we will be in the competition later.”
Set a huge target in the fourth innings, it was clear that Woakes might be called up and therefore the preparation to take one hand started on day four in the Indoor School with Marcus Trescothick, the assistant coach. The first instinct was to try an orthodox position, both hands on the bat, and to see how it felt. The answer? Not good.
“I normally defended one and, oh size, it was pain. So yes, we soon worked behind that the posture of a left air would protect the shoulder and at least allow me to block a kind of my upper hand in control. I hit a few, missed a few, but it felt like the only way to survive.”
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And so Woakes walked to the middle at 11.40 am and wore Jacob Bethell’s DIGH Guard of the left hanger and, in the absence of an oversized arm guard, a few smaller borrowed from Joe Root and Ollie Pope. He was helped by Davies in his whites, while Ben Stokes tie on his pads for him. Typically for the man, Woakes says he was worried about being a “hurt in the ass”.
“In the end it was bittersweet,” he says about the fact that he didn’t get a ball. “Some of me wondered what it could be like, to see if I could have defended the ball, perhaps seen one over, pressed a point or cut a four.
“But the other side was:” thank goodness I have not confronted 90 MPH bouncer, with one hand, opposite the wrong direction. ” And I knew I would have to wear a few bouncer if I were to be strike.
Just like Stokes Bowlen – dresses Yorkers to pant at Old Trafford, even though the Wicketkeeper of India has a broken foot, all short balls aimed at Woakes would have been a fair game – the brutal, uncompromising side of a sport that, bar concussion, makes no replacements. Stokes himself said that he does not think that a rule that allows them should come in.
While the series was a powder cat, with workballs everywhere, the scenes at the end showed the respect that supports everything. Shubman Gill, the captain of India, made it a point to stop to praise Woakes after the game, just like almost his entire team. Pant, whose foot was broken by Woakes during the fourth test, was back in India, but the couple has changed messages since then.
“Shubman said something like:” That was incredibly brave, “says Woakes.” I told him, “You had an incredible series, played well and credit to your team.” Both sets of players had completed the mill in the series and deserve the honor for the show we have set up. Both teams naturally wanted the victory, but it feels a bit honest that it was drawn.
“I saw rishabh [Pant] Had put an image of me on Instagram with a salute emoji, so I answered him: “appreciate the love and hope that the foot is fine,” etc. He then sent me a voting note: “I hope everything is good, good luck with the recovery and I hope we meet again one day.” I clearly said sorry for the broken foot. “
The time since then is a whirlwind of emotions for woakes and, while he sees a specialist this week and a full prognosis to follow, questions about what awaits us is wrong. However, there are a few last questions: first, after he goes through this test, does he think that test cricket should have replacements?
Woakes answers: “I am at Stokesy, to be honest. After playing 18 years, the game is what it is: you lose a player and as a team you have to find a way. It makes you more resilient and the team stronger. I understand why people think it is necessary for freak injuries like mine, but there are too much battle.” “”
And praised like a hero? “I mean, it’s not the way you want to be news for the page first, you would have been five wickets or a century. There have been many ups and downs since then, but yes, the love from the audience has helped.
“It is so strange to go from the start of a test week, thinking ‘a final push’, to end up on the table of a physio and wonder what the future has in store.”
Whatever that is – whether that was indeed a final act of selflessness in an English career that was built on it – the world will wish him the best.
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