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Chris Woakes named Professional Cricketer’s Association’s Men’s Player of the Year
It has been a good week for Chris Woakes.
On Wednesday, he was one of just five England players to be awarded Test and ODI central contracts. On Thursday morning, his second daughter, Evie, was born. And on Saturday evening he was revealed to be the Professional Cricketer’s Association’s Men’s Player of the Year.
Woakes, alongside Young Player of the Year Zak Crawley and Women’s Player of the Year Sarah Glenn, is one of the big winners at the Natwest Cricket Awards, which took place around T20 Finals Day. “The fact that this award is chosen by your fellow professionals; the players you play with and against not just in the year but throughout your whole career, is really nice recognition,” said Woakes.
Woakes had a terrific summer, taking 17 Test and six ODI wickets and playing a vital innings in the unforgettable win over Pakistan at Old Trafford. The award, won by Ben Stokes last year, is also a reflection of his status as one of the most popular and respected players on he circuit, who shines in his understated fashion in every discipline in the game.
Woakes admits that he does not even think this summer was his best for England – that was his Test breakthrough in 2016 – but is especially pleased to have performed well in strange conditions, without fans.
“I think that’s what makes it so pleasing this summer – the fact that I’ve performed well under tricky circumstances,” he said. “I certainly didn’t know how the summer was going to go. I probably didn’t think I’d play much cricket for England this summer so to actually say here now with that award is really pleasing and I’m proud of how I went about and it and how the team went about it.”
Woakes was also particularly pleased with the way he batted. Going into the Pakistan series he had one score over six in his previous nine innings.
“I probably convinced myself I was out of form when I’m not sure I was. The numbers probably suggested I was,” he says.
“All of a sudden you start thinking you’re in horrible nick and start doing different things. But I kind of went back to basics. I literally went back and looked at the hundred I scored at Lord’s [against India in 2018] ball by ball on the laptop with the analyst guy and that just gave me a bit of confidence. I hadn’t changed anything in terms of my technique and I just tried to go back to that and go back to basics. The situation in that one Test match allowed me to free up a bit and the rest is history. It’s amazing how the game can turn around quite quickly.”
Woakes is comfortable with England players taking paycuts and accepts that he may have to sit out some ODI cricket in order to play Tests if different bubbles continue to be required.
With no cricket confirmed for England in the coming months and Woakes having opted out of the IPL, what do the next few weeks hold?
“Just ticking over really trying to make sure we don’t get too fat and keep relatively fit,” he says. “There’ll be a lot of nappy changing and dad duties I’m sure over the next few weeks and then I’ll get back into a bit of cricket. I’ll probably start to pick up training mid-October, late October and just be prepared for anything.”
The first NatWest Cricket Awards, a combination of the PCA Awards and NatWest OSCAs, honours both the community cricket club heroes and professional stars of the season in one event that will celebrate the game from the ground up in recognition of an extraordinary year for the sport.
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