Woakes aims to cap big summer

Victory against Durham in the Royal London Cup final would bring to a close the best season of Chris Woakes' career to date. As far as weeks go, if he ends Saturday supping champagne at Lord's, after his beloved Aston Villa went to Anfield last weekend and took three points off Liverpool, this one could be up there.

"As close to the perfect week, definitely," Woakes said. He has been finding it difficult to look at the Premier League table and not double take, as Villa occupy second place after a dire 2013-14 season. He puts the change in fortunes down to the positive effect of new assistant manager Roy Keane; a no-nonsense character who would say boo to a goose and then wait for it in the car park.

As Woakes goes on to talk about the positive effect of his own Warwickshire coach, Dougie Brown, the question has to be asked: who would win in a fight?

"Wow! That's a tricky situation. See, it's the Irishmen versus the Scot. I reckon it would be very close. I don't know Roy Keane, but I can imagine he gives one hell of a dressing down… nah, my money's on Dougie. That Scottish red mist is gonna come out and take Keane down, I reckon. Dougie can certainly put someone in their place if he wanted to."

It's hard to imagine a time when Brown would have had to put Woakes in his place. Ashley Giles describes the allrounder as a "low maintenance player", such is his application in training and delivery on the pitch that has seen him take 219 first-class wickets in the last five seasons, at 23.90 apiece, while averaging a smidge under 40 with the bat, in that same period.

The view held across the domestic scene is that every XI needs "a Woakesy"; a player that offers a team a dual threat, balance and all the benefits of "a good bloke". Judging by the words of those who have worked with or alongside him, he has the distinction of being a cricketer you would not want to take to the field without and one you would introduce to your parents.

Certainly England have come round to the former (and who knows, maybe even the latter). After being brought into the XI for the third Test against India at the Ageas Bowl, Woakes did not leave it, playing in the remaining two Tests, four ODIs and one-off Twenty20. Soon after, he was rewarded with a central contract. Things have worked out well.

"You start the summer, as you do any other," Woakes reflected, "trying to do well for your county and, if you do well, you're picked in an England squad. Maybe play the odd game here and there, with the odd stint of carrying drinks. But it's gone a lot better than I could have ever imagined, really."

Woakes' selection, whilst earned by the player himself, also gave us an insight into the dichotomy between the passive and active followers of English cricket. That is not to say one follower is better than the other; county cricket, for all its merits, requires a dedication that tests even its most devoted. But much of the discussion on Woakes, from those who are expected to know better, seemed cobbled together. One in particular, that he did not possess an inswinger, despite a significant proportion of his domestic scalps being achieved, directly or indirectly, with that delivery.

His views on the matter are as expected.

"To be honest, I knew there would be extra scrutiny. That's just what you get at international level. You realise your game is under a lot more pressure and I think you just have to deal with it.

"It is tricky, though. You aim to make your debut for England and when it happens you're ecstatic and then the extra scrutiny comes to just keep you in check."

"I actually used the inswinger a lot more when I was younger. Some people don't feel that I have it, but I've got a lot of county wickets with it. A lot of people probably hadn't seen me play and they have their opinion on me from games here and there. But you can't change that - you just have to get on with it and work hard. I feel like my game has evolved over the last year alone."

One example of that evolution is his adoption of the "wobble ball" - a delivery perfected by James Anderson, in which the ball is released from the hand rather than pushed with the wrist, allowing the seam to "wobble". This results in an unusual trajectory and with movement, one way or the other, neither prodigious and, unusually importantly, beyond the bowler's control. "If I'm not sure which way the ball is going to go, the batsman won't have a clue," being Anderson's logic.

It has been with Anderson's help that Woakes has developed the trick - one which the 25-year-old is looking to adopt as his ideal change-up. He has even enjoyed success with it this summer, mostly notably the wicket of Murali Vijay, lbw, in the second innings of fourth Test at Old Trafford.

"Anderson bowls it exceptionally well. He's got all the tricks - to work so closely with him has been good. I feel my game has got better just by watching him and Stuart Broad.

"Jimmy put it in context: you kind of bowl an inswinger with an away swing grip. I see it as a lot more of an aggressive option. The inswinger is obviously a very good ball, because once the batsman sees you've got it, it's always playing on their mind. But, as a delivery in isolation, I don't think it gets top batsmen out."

Armed with his new trick from a high-profile mate and a central contract under his arm, Woakes will walk into the Warwickshire team for the final without a Royal London Cup appearance to his name. So, from ever-present, hometown hero who has been at the club since he was 11, to big time Charlie, showing up to oust some poor sod and nab a piece of the glory. You've changed, Chris.

"Ha! Yeah, it's one of them situations where unfortunately someone's going to miss out and it's tough on them. Obviously I wasn't available for the earlier Royal London games but, yeah, I'm just pitching up for the final!"

Of course, no one will mind at all. You need only to rewatch the T20 Blast Finals Day celebrations, both on and off the pitch, to see how high morale is in that Edgbaston dressing room.

Another indicator has been the return to form of Boyd Rankin and Jonathan Trott, after difficult winters. It is to the credit of the individuals and the environment that Rankin has been able to rediscover his rhythm and pace and Trott his insatiable appetite for runs. Trott is the competition's second highest run scorer, with 486 runs (featuring two centuries and three fifties) and Rankin's economy rate of 3.92 is the lowest of anyone to deliver at least 10 overs

"It's great at the minute," Woakes said. "The guys have been together for a good number of years. Everyone is comfortable. It's always great to see Trott and Body back and performing as well as they are, but also it's great how a few young guys have stepped in and put their hands up, having come through the system."

Woakes also cites the ease at which Varun Chopra has stepped up as captain as a prime example of how comfortable surroundings are. Taking over from the ever-popular Jim Troughton, who has unfortunately had to admit defeat in his battle against injury, Chopra has flourished as a leader.

"It's important that we had him to step in as captain. He's quite a chilled guy and is open to approaches from all players. It's also been key for Chops and us that Jim has still been around the team too. He's still a valuable part of our setup."

Saturday will be Woakes' last day of the season, after the ECB declared that all centrally contracted bowlers will be rested for the last round of Championship games.

"I don't want to let the boys down. I mean, there's always greater expectation when you come back after being away with England for a while. Fingers crossed I can come back and do the business."