AUS vs ENG: Turned Down IPL Offer To Play The Ashes - Chris Woakes

England all-rounder Chris Woakes won the Player Of The Series award in Ashes 2023 after the series ended 2-2. England won the fifth Test at The Oval by 49 runs to end the series 2-2. The last two Ashes series played in England have now both ended in draws.

Woakes took 19 wickets and scored 79 runs with the bat including a match-winning hand in the Headingley Test of an unbeaten 32. Also, his crucial 36 came in the first innings of the Oval Test.

Looking back at the Player Of The Series award, Woakes looked back at skipping the IPL season in order to be ready for the Ashes series.

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I turned down the opportunity to go to the IPL for a number of reasons: Chris Woakes

“You don’t always get what you want and what you’re kind of destined for. Not sure that’s the right word. But I turned down the opportunity to go to the IPL for a number of reasons, one being the opportunity to potential be a part of this series. At no point did I think I’d be stood here. That’s not how far your mind works. You don’t think ‘I can’t wait to be player of the series in the Ashes’. You just want to be a part of it, contribute and hopefully win. So to think that I’m stood here now actually… I think I need to let it sink in,” said Woakes.

This was the last time Stuart Broad played Test cricket for England. The veteran England bowler retired from the format after the end of the Ashes series with 604 Test wickets. He hit a six off the last ball and took the last Australian wicket to fall in the second innings capping off a memorable career.

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Woakes spoke about playing alongside Broad and Anderson on this momentous occasion.

“I feel very lucky to have played with Stuart, and Jimmy’s the same. “The stuff that I’ve learned from them has had a huge impact on how I’ve bowled about over the years. It’s extended my international career if anything. So, we obviously won’t know what would have been if they hadn’t been around but I can only have good things to say in terms of the knowledge that they’ve passed on and the games that I have been a part of with them. It’s been an honour really,” Woakes concluded saying.

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