Chris Woakes expressed his support for England’s strategy after they lost three wickets in the last half-hour on the opening day at Edgbaston, finishing the day at 38 for three, trailing by 244 runs, having opted for an aggressive approach in a challenging late-afternoon session.
“We always aim to take the positive route, especially our openers Zak [Crawley] and Ben [Duckett]. Unfortunately, this time it didn’t quite work out,” Woakes commented.
“Ideally, you want to close the day with no more than one wicket down, so we must give credit to the West Indies for seizing three wickets during a tricky phase. However, we still have two excellent players at the crease and a middle order capable of building partnerships to hopefully add substantial runs tomorrow.”
After winning the toss, the West Indies were bowled out for 282, with Kraigg Brathwaite and Jason Holder both producing half-centuries, despite losing their first five wickets for just 39 runs and the last four for 38.
“To bowl a team out on day one at Edgbaston after losing the toss is quite an achievement,” Woakes remarked. “We consistently bowled in the right areas and received the rewards. I believe West Indies have been a bit unfortunate – it’s easy for people to dismiss teams, but they’ve fought hard, returned well in the series, and made us work diligently for our wickets. Our ability to find ways to take 10 wickets is certainly a positive takeaway.”
Holder noted that the three wickets lost at the day’s end, with Crawley out for 18, Duckett for three, and the “nighthawk” Mark Wood not scoring, have set the stage for a potentially thrilling match.
“It was a bonus for us to get those three wickets at the end of the day,” he said. “The game’s poised to be quite exciting. Anytime you can take that many wickets on day one, it opens up the match.”
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“We’ve made mistakes by giving the English batsmen too many boundaries early on, but not only have we taken wickets, we’ve also managed to maintain a relatively tight bowling performance.”
Eventually, Holder was clean bowled by Gus Atkinson for 59, with Atkinson taking four wickets to reach a total of 20 in his debut Test series, outpacing any other England player.
“He’s making it look quite effortless, isn’t he?” remarked Woakes, whose three wickets raised his tally to 10. “He has really showcased his skills: he can swing the ball, has a good wobble seam, and possesses pace, effectively utilizing a short-ball strategy. He truly looks like a complete bowler.”
