“It wasn’t an easy decision”- Chris Woakes on skipping IPL to play county cricket for Ashes 2023 chance
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Chris Woakes
When the list of all the players’ names who have registered for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 auction was released, surprisingly, England fast bowler Chris Woakes‘ wasn’t there. He hasn’t signed up to get hammered in the mini-auction on December 23 in Kochi, as he wants to get himself in the reckoning for Ashes 2023.
Woakes, who recently provided his services to the T20 World Cup 2022 winning team England, considers himself an all-format cricketer. But after sustaining a knee injury, he missed the 2022 summer. That year the Three Lions have performed brilliantly under captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum. And now, all his focus is on red-ball cricket.
In the IPL, he has represented Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2017, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2018, and Delhi Capitals (DC) in 2021. But in 2023, he will use the summer to play county cricket for Warwickshire in the County Championship.
Chris Woakes loves playing for Warwickshire despite a hectic schedule
Woakes said choosing to opt-out of the cash-rich league wasn’t an easy decision as the Indian league is rewarding financially. As he just won a world cup, bidders can fight for him. He might get attract a high amount, but the 33-year-old didn’t make the choice solely on finances.
“It wasn’t an easy decision, by any means,” Woakes told ESPNcricinfo. “There’s still a part of me that wishes I could go because the IPL is a great tournament and financially it could be very rewarding – but I didn’t want to make the decision solely on finance. It’s a tricky scenario: having just won a World Cup, potentially stock could be high. There are obviously some other players who are likely to go big but I could have been next on the list behind them,” he added.
“The trade-off is that opportunity to play for Warwickshire, which I’ve always loved doing. It’s tricky as an international player, particularly with the current schedule, and more so as a bowler: you don’t get the opportunity to come back and play much for your county,” he added.
Woakes debuted for England in the final Ashes match in 2013, which they won. He missed the 2015 season due to injury, but he was a part of the one drawn series and two defeats. As the Ashes mean a lot to him, he is desperate to be a part of the squad.
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Gouri Das
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