Chris Woakes took three top-order India A wickets at Wantage Road to stake his claim for a return to England’s Test side later this month.
Woakes has been included in England’s squad to face India at Headingley, starting on June 20, live on Sky Sports, after missing the recent innings win over Zimbabwe and much of the early county season with an ankle injury.
The 36-year-old laid down a marker with a superb opening spell of 6-3-8-2 for Andrew Flintoff’s England Lions in their second unofficial Test against India A, including pinning Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw for 17.
Jaiswal, player of the series when England lost 4-1 in India last year, will open the batting for the tourists in Leeds and was unimpressed at being given out, but this was still a telling early blow.
Woakes (3-50) also pinned the touring team’s captain Abhimanyu Easwaran (11) leg-before in his first burst, then Karun Nair (40) in his second as he ended his day with a three-for from 17 overs.
Josh Tongue (0-72), also expected to be in England’s XI in a fortnight, had a more forgettable outing as he leaked plenty of runs from his 17 wicketless overs, as KL Rahul’s 116 underscored India’s 319-7.
“It’s been a frustrating start to the season. It would have been nice to have played a few more games, but the ankle wasn’t really playing ball, so I had to give it a bit longer,” Woakes said.
“This game was in the diary so it made sense to play. I’m one that needs time and days in the field to feel fully prepared from a body perspective as well as a bowling perspective.
“It was a good day, a good run out. It’s always good to come up against strong opposition when you know you’re going into a Test series which is going to be hard fought.”
This summer, England are set to play India at Headingley (June 20-24), Edgbaston (July 2-6), Lord’s (July 10-14), Emirates Old Trafford (July 23-27) and The Kia Oval (July 31-August 4), with every Test live on Sky Sports.
England men’s Tests this summer ☀️
All games at 11am UK and Ireland; all live on Sky Sports
- May 22-25: Beat Zimbabwe by an innings and 45 runs
- vs India: Friday June 20-Tuesday June 24 – Headingley
- vs India: Wednesday July 2-Sunday July 6 – Edgbaston
- vs India: Thursday July 10-Monday July 14 – Lord’s
- vs India: Wednesday July 23-Sunday July 27 – Old Trafford
- vs India: Thursday July 31-Monday August 4 – The Kia Oval
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