Woakes made his One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) debuts in 2011, and Test debut in 2013. He was part of the England teams that won the 2019 Cricket World Cup and 2022 T20 World Cup.

Woakes plays as a right-handed all-rounder, bowling fast medium.

Early Life

Woakes was born in Birmingham in March 1989 and attended Barr Beacon Language College in Walsall from 2000 to 2007. He started playing cricket at the age of seven with Aston Manor Cricket Club. He made three appearances in the Minor Counties Trophy for Herefordshire County Cricket Club in 2006 and played for Warwickshire's Under-15, Under-17, Academy and Second XI teams between 2004 and 2007. Woakes is an avid supporter of local football club Aston Villa F.C. He was a budding footballer with Walsall F.C. as a winger until the age of 14.

Career

C Woakes represented Warwickshire in one game during the 2006 season during a West Indian tour of England. Woakes nullified three wickets in the match. He has since represented Warwickshire in the second XI Championship.

In 2008 he was a regular for the Warwickshire First XI. Over the course of the County Championship season, he took 42 wickets averaging 20.57 runs per wicket, beating Warwickshire's bowling averages.

On April 6, 2009, Woakes was called up to the England Lions squad. Woakes made is the Lions' debut against the West Indies, scoring 6/43 in the first innings of the game. In the same season he scored 131 points, not against Hampshire, his first top-flight century, hit ninth and shared a 222-run partnership with Jonathan Trott.

Woakes picked up his 200th first class wicket in Warwickshire's win over Sussex at the County Championship in July 2011.
At the 2017 Indian Premier League auction, Woakes was bought by the Kolkata Knight Riders, who won 17 wickets in 13 games with bests of 3/6. At the 2018 IPL auction he was bought by Royal Challengers Bangalore, played in five games and won eight wickets in the 2018 IPL. He was released by RCB before the 2019 IPL auction where he went unsold.

Chris Woakes IPL
Chris Woakes IPL 2020
At the 2020 IPL auction, he was bought by Delhi Capitals ahead of the 2020 Indian Premier League but withdrew from the tournament. Chris Woakes has pulled out of IPL 2020 to keep fresh for the England Test season.

Chris Woakes IPL 2021
He was retained by Delhi for the 2021 season. Woakes made his debut against Delhi Capitals against CSK in Match 2 of IPL 2021.

In April 2022, he was bought by the Birmingham Phoenix for the 2022 season of The Hundred.

International Career

Woakes made his International Twenty20 debut against Australia in Adelaide on January 12, 2011. He opened the bowling, took numbers of 1/34 and later scored the winning runs. He played during the one day games on the tour and in his second One Day International he took numbers of 6/45. Woakes returned to England during an ODI series against South Africa in 2012 and continued to play on the one-day team against India and New Zealand later that year.

Woakes made his Test play debut against Australia in the 2013 Ashes Series Final Test, taking 1/96 in the first innings. After being named in roster against Sri Lanka and India, Woakes played his first Test of summer 2014 in the third Test against India. He was an integral part of the English ODI team, played all four games and was selected in the ODI squad, which toured Sri Lanka in late 2014. He won a bowling spell in the fifth match of the series 6/47, which was nominated as one of the best ODI bowling performances of the year.

He was part of the England team for the 2015 Cricket World Cup, although injury ruled him out of England's last game of the tournament. After the injury, Woakes returned for the ODI series against Australia and Pakistan and the Test team against South Africa in 2015/16. On 21 June 2016, he achieved his highest ODI score of 95 runs unbeaten in the first ODI against Sri Lanka. His score is the highest combined ODI score of eighth or lower in ODI history, a record shared with fellow Englishman Sam Curran. He made his first Test century against India (137 not out) at Lord's in August 2018, the ground where he had his best match figures two years earlier with the ball from 11/102 against Pakistan. These exploits earned him a spot on both Lord's Honors Boards, one of only ten players to achieve this, and the fifth to do so by winning ten wickets in a match.

He continued to feature in England's one-day and Test squads and was called up to England's squad for the 2019 Cricket World Cup in April 2019. He was named player of the match in the World Cup semi-final against Australia and took England by three wickets to the World Cup final against New Zealand, the team's first appearance in a final since 1992. Woakes again won the final by three wickets as England won the tournament .

On 17 June 2020, Woakes was added to England's 30-man squad to begin behind closed doors training for the Test series against the West Indies and was later called up to England's 13-man squad for the first Test match of the series. In the second Test, Woakes took his 100th wicket in Test matches. Chris Woakes reached 150 career ODI wickets by winning the wicket of Pathum Nissanka in the 1st ODI of Sri Lanka tour of England in 2021.

In September 2021, Woakes was called up to England's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. In September 2022, Woakes was named in England's squad for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup. Woakes played in every game for England who went on to win the tournament, beating Pakistan in the final. Woakes is one of 6 players to play in both the 2019 ODI and 2022 T20 world cup winning squads.

In 2023, Woakes was recalled to the 2023 Ashes for the 3rd Test at Headingley where he took three wickets in each innings. In the second innings he finished 32 not out and hit the winning runs. His 59 run partnership with Harry Brook was England's largest of the match. For his performances in the series, taking crucial wickets at key stages and picking up 19 wickets in the 6 innings he played, he was named England's "player of the series".