“I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I didn’t try,” says Chris Woakes, just 48 hours after he walked out to a standing ovation at the Oval, left arm in a sling, bat in hand, ready to push through the agony of a dislocated shoulder to get England the win.
It may have been thwarted, with India victorious by a slim six runs to bring one of the most thrilling series in recent times to an end in a 2-2 draw. But the selfless act of crossing the boundary with a potentially career‑threatening injury meant Woakes entered cricketing folklore – echoing Colin Cowdrey in 1963, Paul Terry and Malcolm Marshall in 1984, and Rishabh Pant at Old Trafford just a week earlier.
“I don’t know what it is,” Woakes says, back home in Birmingham and awaiting further scans on the injury. “You just know you’re part of something bigger. It’s not just you that you’re playing for out there. It’s your team and your teammates, all the hard work and the sacrifices they put in, the people watching at home and in the ground. You just feel a duty to do it for everyone.”
That sense of duty led to the 36‑year‑old seamer instantly being hailed as a national hero, with praise from around the world and the image of England’s one-armed batsman making front-page news. For Woakes, there is a mixture of pride and frustration, the team having been within touching distance of a monumental chase of 374 runs and a 3-1 series win.
“I’m still gutted, devastated really, that we couldn’t get the fairytale. But I never considered not going out there, even if it had been 100 runs still to win or whatever. It was nice to have the ovation and some of the Indian players came over to show their respect. But any other player would have done the same. You couldn’t just call it off at nine wickets down.”
Going out to bat with 17 runs required, Woakes did not have to face a delivery before Gus Atkinson was bowled by the irrepressible Mohammed Siraj to end a dramatic match. But simply running his partner’s runs – something he had not factored in when trying to work out how he might bat – was unbearable, occurring four times.
“The first one was the worst,” he says. “All I had taken was codeine and it was just so sore. Instinct took over here – even with my arm strapped down I tried to run as you naturally do. I genuinely worried my shoulder had popped back out again, hence you saw me throw my helmet off, rip the glove off with my teeth, and check it was OK.”
It was a serious injury, no question, sustained on the first evening of the series decider when Woakes – the only England seamer to play all five Tests – went to chase down a ball that was running to the boundary, only to land awkwardly as he flicked it back. A run was indeed saved but the cost far outstripped it.
“We chase down every run,” Woakes explains.
“That has always been the way. As a bowler, you really respect guys trying to save every run. It means a lot to you. So you kind of do the same for the team. And a tight game like that one – just six runs the difference – kinda shows how they all add up.
“The outfield was wet from the rain, almost greasy, and my hand slipped as I landed and my full body weight went through my shoulder. I heard a pop and knew I was in trouble.
“The pain came on pretty quickly and my arm was just hanging there. It was grim and my thoughts were racing. ‘Is it game over? Is it career done?’ It was a horrible place to be. We got it into a makeshift sling with my jumper and got off the field.”
What followed sounds utterly excruciating, with Anita Biswas, the England team doctor, and Ben Davies, the physiotherapist, spending the next 30 minutes in the dressing room trying to get the shoulder back in place.
Woakes recalls: “It is a horrible feeling, your shoulder not where it should be and worrying it might never get back in. It felt like three hours but the medical staff were amazing.
“I had this vape pen thing which tasted rank but took the edge off, pain-wise. First we tried me lying flat on my front on the bench and letting the arm hang down to do it. But the pain was too much to get into position.
“In the end it was just a case of lying on my back and Anita gradually straightening my arm and trying that way. We thought we had it in with a ‘clunk’ but then my pectoral muscle spasmed and rejected it. That was horrendous. Another 10 minutes or so, with her knee in my armpit, there was another ‘clunk’ and it was back it properly. It hurt but there was such a feeling of relief with it, too.”
Woakes went to A&E at St George’s hospital in Tooting that evening for an X-ray to confirm there was no break, before returning to his wife, Amie, and their two young children at the team hotel. Needless to say, going to sleep that night was close to impossible but he reported back at the Oval the following morning.
It was during England’s first innings that day, at four wickets down, when Woakes first approached Brendon McCullum to say he would be prepared to go out to bat if called upon. “No chance, boss,” came the reply from the head coach. “Park up and we’ll see where we get to later in the match.”
Set a huge target in the fourth innings, it was clear Woakes might well be called upon and so preparation to bat one-handed began on day four in the indoor school with Marcus Trescothick, the assistant coach. The first instinct was to attempt an orthodox stance, both hands on the bat, and see how it felt. The answer? Not good.
“I defended one normally and, oh mate, it was agony. So yeah, we soon worked out that a left‑hander’s stance would shield the shoulder and at least allow me to sort of block with my top 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 at 11.40am on Monday, Woakes walked out to the middle wearing Jacob Bethell’s left‑hander’s thigh guard and, in the absence of an oversized arm guard, a couple of smaller ones borrowed from Joe Root and Ollie Pope. He was helped into his whites by Davies, while Ben Stokes strapped on his pads for him. Typical of the man, Woakes says he worried about being a “pain in the arse” here.
“It was bittersweet in the end,” he says of the fact that he did not face a ball. “Part of me wondered what it might be like, to see if I could have defended the ball, seen out an over maybe, squeezed a run or carved a four.
“But the other side of it was: ‘Thank God I didn’t face a 90mph bouncer, one-handed, facing the wrong way around.’ And I knew I was going to have to wear a few bouncers if I did get on strike. Those were the anxious feelings, really. You’re still pretty exposed out there.”
Like Stokes bowling toe‑hunting yorkers to Pant at Old Trafford, despite the India wicketkeeper having a broken foot, any short balls aimed at Woakes would have been fair game – the brutal, uncompromising side of a sport that, bar concussion, does not do substitutions. Stokes himself has said he does not think a rule permitting them should come in.
While the series was a powder keg, with running verbals throughout, the scenes at the end showed the respect underpinning it all. Shubman Gill, India’s captain, made a point of stopping to commend Woakes after the match, as did pretty much his entire team. Pant, whose foot had been broken by Woakes during the fourth Test, was back in India but the pair have since swapped messages.
“Shubman said something like: ‘That was incredibly brave,’” Woakes says. “I told him: ‘You’ve had an unbelievable series, well played, and credit to your team.’ Both sets of players had been through the mill in the series and deserve credit for the show we put on. Both teams wanted the win, of course, but it does kind of feel fair that it was drawn.
“I saw Rishabh [Pant] had put an image of me on Instagram with a salute emoji, so I replied thanking him: ‘Appreciate the love and hope the foot is OK,’ etc. He then sent me a voice note saying: ‘I hope all is OK, good luck with the recovery and I hope we meet again out there some day.’ I obviously said sorry for the broken foot.”
The time since has been a whirlwind of emotions for Woakes and, with him seeing a specialist this week and a full prognosis to follow, any questions about what lies ahead would be wrong. There are a couple of final queries, though: first, having gone through this ordeal, does he think Test cricket should have substitutions?
Woakes replies: “I’m with Stokesy, to be honest. Having played for 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 do understand why people might think it’s needed for freak injuries like mine but there would be too many grey areas or loopholes.”
And being hailed as a hero? “I mean, it’s not the way you want to be front-page news – you’d sooner it was for five wickets or a century. There have been a lot of ups and downs since but yeah, the love from the public has helped.
“It is so weird to go from the start of a Test week, thinking ‘one last push’, to ending up on a physio’s table wondering what the future holds.”
Whatever that is – whether that was indeed one last act of selflessness in an England career that has been built on it – the world will be wishing him well.
