Chris Woakes out to make up for lost time after injury-hit summer
Thursday 27 August 2015 18:17, UK
Chris Woakes is desperate to end a frustrating summer with a flourish by reclaiming the NatWest T20 Blast trophy for the Birmingham Bears and making his mark with England.
The 26-year-old all-rounder, who was part of the XI that faced India in the final home Test of 2014, has been kept on the sidelines for much of the season by injury, robbing him of the chance to feature for England in the Ashes following a disappointing World Cup campaign.
A foot injury, followed by knee surgery, meant he was absent until mid-July and he is itching to re-establish himself against Australia in the forthcoming T20 international and five-match ODI series.
"The first few months of the season were frustrating and annoying," he said.
"After a tough World Cup which didn't really go the way we would have liked it would have been nice to have started the summer with a clean slate. That wasn't to be.
"There's never a good time for an injury but the timing was pretty bad. I feel like I'm over it now, though, and I'm looking forward to what lies ahead which is some important cricket - finals day and then plenty of English cricket to finish the summer.
"I'm really pleased to be called back in. I wasn't really sure whether I was going to be part of it or not so I'm really pleased to be selected.
"It seems like forever since the World Cup so I'm really itching to get back out there."
Woakes will find a different one-day side to the one he played in at the World Cup, with the post-mortem from that competition prompting a bolder approach that reaped rewards against World Cup finalists New Zealand earlier in the summer.
"The way the lads have played over the summer has been fantastic," he added.
"Obviously I would have loved to have been a part of that but to be able to watch as a fan, more than anything, has been great to watch the way they've played. I can't wait to be a part of that.
"The way the lads played against New Zealand in that one-day series was brilliant. It was almost fearless; they went out and were really free and played their game and executed their skills really well.
"With that aggressive approach, hopefully I can take out on to the field with me as well."
Live NatWest T20 Blast Finals Day
