England v Pakistan: Chris Woakes picks his top five moments from the series with Pakistan
Friday 9 September 2016 13:52, UK
Chris Woakes picks his top five moments from the ODIs and T20I against Pakistan, praises the Marcel Desailly of the England team and reflects on an "amazing" summer of white-ball cricket…
The one-day series has been fantastic. As much as we wanted to win 5-0 and get the whitewash, we shouldn't take any credit away from ourselves after winning 4-1.
Pakistan played better than us at Cardiff and deserved that win but we have still beaten a really good international side 4-1 over the series and come out on top pretty convincingly really. If we were offered that at the start of the series, I think we'd all have snapped your hand off pretty quickly.
Although they are ninth in the ODI rankings, Pakistan still have some really dangerous players and are better than that ranking. So to beat them so convincingly was really good.
It was unfortunate to finish the way we did with the last two games, the final one-dayer and the T20 didn't go as planned but credit to Pakistan, they're a good team and they've come back strong, ended their tour well and they can take confidence from that.
Overall though, I don't think we can moan. We've had an amazing summer in white-ball cricket, those were the only losses that we've had, and we've been pretty dominant over the summer in all formats. We drew 2-2 with Pakistan in the Test series but they're No 1 in the world and they showed why - in any conditions, they're a great team.
I think we can be really happy with our summer and excited looking ahead to the winter and a new challenge in different conditions in Bangladesh and India.
Before that though, there have been plenty of highlights during the ODI series and T20I with Pakistan. Here are my top five…
Record-breaking day at Trent Bridge
I think it's pretty safe to say that this was the number one. For the team to get the world record 444 - the most runs ever scored in a one-day international innings - it was an amazing feat. And it's a credit to the team and where they've gone in the last 12 months, how we've moved forward as a team. Obviously, Alex Hales made the highest ODI score by an England batsman as well.
As a bowling unit, when your team has just gone and scored 444, you're expected to go and win and win convincingly but it's not always as easy as that. So to go out there, pick up some wickets and make sure we got the job done was really nice, on a personal level and as a team. We gave them no sniff and got the game over and done with in pretty convincing fashion. It was just a special day to be a part of, a really nice day to be a part of that England team.
50th cap at Lord's
It was a really nice moment for myself, getting my 50th cap in a one-day international. The fact it was at Lord's as well, the home of cricket - it's an important place for any cricketer but even more so an England cricketer - was great. So to get to that milestone at home, at Lord's, was a nice moment and we won that game as well.
We had them 2-3 in the morning which is almost the perfect start to the ODI for us, Mark Wood and I picking up some early wickets. I also managed to score the winning runs. It's always nice to go in and get the glory at the end, even though you haven't really done anything!
Liam Plunkett's diving catch
Next up is Pudsey's catch. Obviously, it was an amazing catch and I mentioned it in a previous column. When it's off your bowling then it's even nicer. It's not only a wicket in your column and the team's column but he saved four there, comfortably. As a bowler, you never want to go for runs and so even if he'd dropped that catch, it would have been nice work from him.
It was a great catch and one that will be replayed for quite a while because the ball was almost behind him. The cameras didn't do it justice really because when they slow it all down, it makes it look a little bit easier but in real time the ball was really travelling. Wahab Riaz struck it really nicely and it really was a worldie catch - as I say, made even nicer as it was off my bowling!
I know the game has moved forward and we all work hard on our fielding, we're all encouraged to do that and improve where we can. Everyone is obviously at different levels but that was a brilliant catch for anyone, let alone a fast bowler. Ten years ago that definitely wouldn't have happened, they'd just have watched it go to the boundary! It was amazing and a credit to all the hard work the team puts in, particularly the fast bowlers who you don't really expect it from.
Victory for Team Stokes
Over the series we've had some pretty intense football matches on training days and before matches. I've mentioned previously that it was Ben Stokes' team vs Mark Wood's team - the two Durham lads. During the transfer window Mark Wood was trying to poach a few players from the opposition, especially on Deadline Day but no one took the bait. I don't think the other members of his own team were too happy about that.
It was good that Ben Stokes' team - who I was on - got the win over the series and took the trophy. That was quite an exciting part of the series behind the scenes! We were 5-3 up with two to play, we drew one and then ended up winning 6-3 in games, overall. Convincing in the end.
Moeen Ali scored quite a few goals for the opposition, we struggled to keep him quiet. Chris Jordan had a great series at the back - we changed his position moving him from midfield back into defence and he was almost Marcel Desailly-like, he was brilliant. Jos Buttler was probably top-scorer and he was a big loss for us when he got injured. That was a blow but Stokesy, the gaffer, tinkered with his formation and brought a different dimension to the side and we got the win.
Mark Wood's Mexican Wave
I was doing 12th man with Mark Wood and Jake Ball and, as you can imagine, Mark can't sit still for two minutes. He was chewing our ear off all day and then when the Mexican Wave started he couldn't help but get involved. That was quite funny, especially as he missed it first time round! We were giving him some stick and he made sure he didn't miss the next one. By this point, of course, the Sky cameras had caught hold of what he was doing which made it even funnier. It was typical Mark really, confidently trying to have a laugh and a joke, regardless of where he is.
The earpieces are something that are occasionally brought into the dressing room. Some guys like to listen to it and others prefer to stay away and stay 'in the zone' almost. It would have been frowned upon in the past I think but it is a little bit more relaxed now, the coaching staff and management don't worry about the guys listening to that sort of stuff.
When it comes to the cricket side of things, the guys don't shout about what the commentators are saying but with things like Mark's Mexican Wave or if they're talking about someone's football or golf - Sam Billings got a bit of stick from Bumble, I saw, and Woody was listening to it at the time - something like that can start a funny conversation in the dressing room or even the dugout and make it quite interesting!
