Ashes 2017: In-form Chris Woakes ready and raring to make big impact against Australia

The Warwickshire player took six for 54 as England restricted their opponents to 249 for nine on the first day

Chris Woakes is delighted to have hit form at just the right time (AFP)

Chris Woakes says he feels ready to make a big impact in the Ashes after claiming six wickets on the opening day of England’s final tour match against a Cricket Australia XI.

The Warwickshire player took six for 54 as England restricted their opponents to 249 for nine on the first day.

Woakes, who also took six wickets in the previous tour match against the same opposition in Adelaide last week, said: "I’m pleased to pick up six wickets and a week away from the first Test it’s good to hit some form.

“It came out nicely and I felt in decent rhythm. I’m pleased with where my body is at, and getting overs in the legs is important. You don’t want to go in undercooked and I’m pleased with where I’m at.”

Woakes also played down the injury fears over Jonny Bairstow, who left the field for just under an hour after sustaining a bruised middle finger on his left hand while wicketkeeping.

"We were never too worried,” he said. “I didn’t even go down and see how he was which is pretty bad from me. But the guys didn’t seem overly worried about him. He came back out later in the day so I don’t think there’s too much to worry about.”

In the absence of Ben Stokes, who is still back at home while police continue their investigation into his late-night altercation in Bristol in September, Woakes is also happy to step up as an all-rounder during the Ashes.

Woakes will move one place up the order to No8 for the series against Australia and, as a man who has scored nine first-class centuries, is looking forward to the challenge.


 Woakes continued his fine form by taking six wickets on day one in Townsville 
 (Getty)

“I’m an all-rounder in this team, which means I’m under pressure to score runs and take wickets,” he said. “All of us have got to step up. My plan is to do that, and I’ll be trying my best. I feel like I’m getting some form under my belt going into the Test series.”

There was also a taste of the hostile atmosphere to come at the Gabba next week from a boisterous Townsville crowd.

England’s two previous tour matches in Perth and Adelaide have been rather sedate, with small crowds in big grounds creating little noise.


 Woakes has impressed so far Down Under 
 (Getty)

But the smaller Tony Ireland Stadium offered a far more authentic Queensland experience ahead of the first Test at the ground known as the ‘Gabbatoir’, which is the most hostile in Australia.

As well as regular chants relating to Stokes, England’s players on the boundary were subject to plenty of chat as well. “In Australia you are always expecting a bit of a heckling,” said Woakes. “It’s the same when they come to us. It’s part and parcel, you have to deal with it. It will go up a notch going into the Gabba.”