England vs Pakistan: Five Talking Points from the Test series

#2 – Can Woakes be Anderson’s successor?

Woakes seems ready to receive the mantle from his senior team-mate

With a decent effort in the preceding Test series at home against Sri Lanka, Chris Woakes did show a few signs of improvement. However, a bowling average of 41.25 from 8 matches refused to inspire much confidence.

Particularly, in the absence of swing merchant James Anderson at Lord’s, England’s bowling attack seemed reliant on a Stuart Broad special. But, it was Woakes who managed to keep them in the contest with his combination of unerring accuracy and sharp seam movement.

Unmindful of his spearhead’s return in the following game, the 27-year-old resumed from where he left off and never looked back. Aside from his skills with the ball, the right-hander’s steady batting was also a massive gain.

In the space of just four Tests, Woakes reduced his bowling average to 26.07 apart from making a strong case for himself to step into the big boots of Anderson upon the latter’s retirement.