Chris Woakes cherishes Anderson’s England send-off after father’s death
After a trying few months following the death of his father in May, Chris Woakes remarked that being present for Jimmy Anderson’s Test send-off served as a reminder to treasure his time at the top of the game and to “enjoy every moment” since “it doesn’t last forever.” After taking a four-month break from cricket between February and June, Woakes returned to the game last month, playing two matches in the Blast and two more in the County Championship for Warwickshire before reuniting with the England team for the West Indies series. He claimed one wicket in England’s innings-and-114-run victory against Anderson in the opening Test.
“Undoubtedly, these past few months have been difficult,” he remarked. It’s one of those life events that, until it actually happens, you probably never really think is going to happen. It’s been difficult to concentrate on my day job while trying to get back into cricket, but I guess that once you get back into it, especially when you’re representing England, it makes you realize how fortunate you are to do what you do. And while Jimmy has experienced this for a long time, you have to strive to savor each and every second that you get to be a member of this squad and fortunate enough to wear the Three Lions. Right now, it’s put things in my case.
After Anderson and Stuart Broad retired during the past year, Woakes, 35, is now England’s senior bowler. Anderson will stay with the team as a bowling coach, at least for the rest of this summer. Woakes’s record is better in the 18 Tests he has played without Anderson than in the 31 games he has played with him (31.82 and 3.15, with 71% at home), averaging 24.8 with an economy of 2.79, with just 38.9% of those games played in England. However, he does not anticipate that the loss of England’s all-time greatest bowler will have a major effect on his game.
