Chris Woakes awarded Player of the Series

England pacer Chris Woakes said that when he suffered a knee injury, he thought that his cricketing career was over. Chris Woakes was awarded ‘Player of the Series’ for taking 19 wickets in five Test matches of the Ashes series. He had an impactful contribution with his four wickets in the fifth Ashes series to restrict Australia to 334, winning by 49 runs. Woakes returned to the United Kingdom with the persistent ailment in his right knee worse than ever after a hectic 2021-22 winter in which he was the only bowler to play the T20 World Cup, the Ashes, and a tour of the Caribbean. When he bowled, the pain was so intense that he wondered if his Test career of fits and starts was finally coming to an end. One that culminated in a disappointing return of 11 dismissals at 52.36 over six appearances under tough conditions. “The way my knee felt, I wasn’t sure if I was going to play cricket again, If I could be at the end of that tour again (Caribbean), at no point did I think I’ll be stood here now with what I’ve achieved. So yeah, it’s pretty incredible to think about,” Woakes said.