Albert Wright’s name may have faded from memory somewhat, but not so long ago he was the golden boy of the Warwickshire team.
Wright, a medium-pacer, claimed 116 wickets in the 1962 season. Reaching his 21st birthday only on August 25 of that year, he remains the youngest man to have taken the most Championship wickets in a season for the club.
It was to prove the high point of his career. By the end of 1964 he had retired and, though he remains alive and well, life since has not always been easy.
Chris Woakes may well break Wright’s record in the next few weeks, but it’s hard to see his career going the same way. Woakes, who is not 20 until next March, has been a revelation this season, bowling with skill and maturity to claim 31 Championship wickets at just 18 apiece.
Only Neil Carter (with 35 wickets at 33 apiece from four more games) has taken more. After years of searching for a home-grown seamer, Warwickshire look as if they’ve struck gold.
Almost as impressive as the performances, however, is the way Woakes has conducted himself on and off the pitch. While other young men thrust into the spot light might have let it go to their head, Woakes remains modest, focussed and, as his director of cricket, Ashley Giles puts it, “low maintenance.” If you could buy shares in people, you’d put your shirt on Woakes.
Talking at New Road yesterday during the rain-hit Division Two match against Worcestershire, he remains a nice mixture of confident but composed. He’s enjoying every moment of his first season on the county circuit, but there’s no danger of his feeling overwhelmed.
“There have been a few times when it’s seemed a bit weird,” he said. “I used to watch people like Jim Troughton and Ian Bell, but now they’re just a couple of the lads.
“I was nervous before the Twenty20 game at Taunton, too. The game was on TV and you look at their batting line-up, on that pitch, and it is quite daunting. I was full of nerves, to be honest.
“But taking four wickets [four for 21 and the man-of-the-match award] there gave me loads of confidence. I thought I came through it well. I’d already taken five [in the Championship] against Glamorgan, so that had given me confidence, too.”
He admits to less confidence last year, however. Called in to make his Championship debut after the debacle of Scarborough, he bowled tidily against Surrey, but gave little indication of the success he would have this year.
“I remember bowling at ‘Ramps’ [Mark Ramprakash] last year and felt I had no chance of getting him out,” he said. “It wasn’t that I felt he’d be miles too good, but I didn’t really think I could get him out.
“Still, it was good to get a taste last year and it did help coming into this season.”
Certainly Woakes has claimed some big wickets this year. His favourites, to date, are the wickets of Joe Denly in the NatWest Pro40 game against Kent, and the Owais Shah in the Championship match at Uxbridge.
“I bowled Denly through the gate with an inswinger, but the Shah one was probably even better as it helped win the match,” said Woakes. “He was batting well, but I got him leg before with one that went straight. That’s probably the best so far.”
Woakes has the precious ability of being able to swing the ball both ways at will. More than that, he does so without an obvious change of action. Even Kabir Ali, surely the best swing bowler in county cricket, struggles to make the ball come back by use of conventional swing (though he can make it reverse) so Woakes’ skill is a potent weapon. Steve Perryman, himself a masterful swing bowler in his time, must take much of the credit for Woakes’ development.
“I’ve done a lot of work with Steve,” Woakes says. “He’s taught me about using my wrist and I can now swing the ball both ways at will. He’s been brilliant.
“The inswinger is a shock ball, really. I like to bowl that early on, just to let the batsmen know I can. It gets them thinking and sometimes can help get them with the outswinger.
“The ball didn’t really swing last year and hasn’t all the time this year. Obviously that makes things more difficult, but then it comes down to building pressure. Hopefully I can gain a bit of pace over the next few years, too.”
He can bat, too. Promoted to seven in this game, Woakes times the ball pleasingly and has it in him to make centuries. An England Lions tour this winter is a distinct possibility.
Meanwhile, off the pitch, more details have emerged about the uptake of half-year membership at Warwickshire this year. Though more than 1,200 have now been sold, only a third have been used to buy discounted Ashes tickets and there is still some availability for tickets in members’ areas for the fourth day of the Test. In all nearly 27,000 tickets have been sold to members over the first four days.
While some have suggested this year’s availability of half-year membership (it went on sale in May) might act as a disincentive to membership in 2009, it is worth noting that those buying membership next year will also have the opportunity to purchase reduced rate tickets to Twenty20 finals day and the One-Day International against Sri Lanka. There is no guarantee the club will offer half-price membership next year.
n For the second day in succession, there was no play in the Second XI Championship match between Derbyshire and Warwickshire at Knowle & Dorridge CC.
n Edgbaston will host the Warwickshire Under 17 Cricket League final next Tuesday from 1pm. The 20-overs a side game, for the Bill Lloyd Trophy, is between Olton & West Warwicks and Walmley. Dennis Amiss will present the trophy and admission is free.
