England all-rounder Chris Woakes on Archer return and India second test

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England all-rounder Chris Woakes on Archer return and India second test  30/06/2025  Edgbaston Stadium, Birmingham, UK

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00:00As always, we'll start with James. Go ahead.

00:03Chris, back at you.

00:04You're just doing in England Colours, your home ground.

00:06How pumped are you with what lies ahead of the next few days?

00:09Yeah, extremely excited.

00:12Obviously, real biased opinion, but I love playing here.

00:15I've spent a lot of my whole life here,

00:18so whenever I come here for an international,

00:20it's got that extra buzz and just a real good feeling

00:23turning up at your home ground to be a part of a big series,

00:27so an exciting week ahead.

00:28And tests against India here are particularly loud, boisterous,

00:32and the atmosphere tends to take off.

00:34Yeah, that's it.

00:35Obviously, we get a great support here always.

00:38The Hollies will be rocking, no doubt,

00:40and also there'll be a lot of Indian fans in as well.

00:44They obviously have a great following, particularly here in Birmingham,

00:46so I'm sure it all makes for a great atmosphere for both teams,

00:50but just great to be a part of it, for sure, yeah.

00:52How are you feeling after the ankle injury and your return

00:55at the first innings, a tough one?

00:58Are you still getting back up to speed a little bit?

01:01I feel like I'm close.

01:05Like I say, I think it was a tough first few days,

01:09I think, for the bowlers up at Headingley.

01:11It was hot and a pretty good batting surface,

01:14but I thought we obviously all stuck at it well.

01:16I think I got better as the game went on.

01:17The body was good, always good to come through a test match unscathed injury-wise.

01:25So, yeah, better for the run out and obviously for the team to get a win.

01:30It was a huge, huge week for us.

01:32So, yeah, obviously better for myself.

01:34I felt like I bowled better in the second innings,

01:36but the body felt good, which is obviously a real bonus.

01:38Do you feel more comfortable bowling here as well,

01:40knowing the ground so well and the conditions?

01:43I mean, you hope so.

01:45You like to think, obviously, I've played a lot of cricket here over my time

01:48and you generally know what pitches are like

01:51and the conditions that you're coming up with.

01:54But at the same time, whenever you start on a new surface,

01:57you have to adapt, you have to assess the conditions.

02:00And hopefully that experience, I suppose, that I've had over the years here,

02:03that will hold me in good stead for this test match.

02:06You mentioned experience with James Anderson and Stuart Broad-Ratari.

02:09You're now the senior member of the Bowling Attack.

02:11How are you settling into that new role?

02:13Yeah, I mean, I'm enjoying it.

02:15Obviously, it's, you know, I think I said in a previous presser,

02:20not that long ago, I played a lot of my England games with Jimmy and Broadie.

02:24So, it is different, obviously, not having them around.

02:29But also, it's a great opportunity for myself.

02:32I've enjoyed that role so far.

02:33It's good to pass on a little bit of knowledge to some younger guys

02:37that haven't played as much test cricket.

02:40And also, I'm learning from them.

02:42You're always on that journey of learning every time you go out there.

02:45So, I'm thoroughly enjoying it

02:46and just want to be able to contribute to team wins like we did in Henley

02:50and hopefully there's more of that to come.

02:52And you're 36 now.

02:53How much further ahead are you looking?

02:55Can you take inspiration from what James Anderson has done?

03:02I don't think I'll be playing when I'm 41, James.

03:05Particularly for England.

03:07I think, you know, I've tried to get the most out of my career.

03:10I'm still in that position where I feel like I'm trying to get better,

03:14trying to improve every time I go out there.

03:17Pass on that knowledge, as I said.

03:19People like to talk about age a lot,

03:21but at the same time, it's just a number.

03:24As long as I'm contributing to the team

03:26and feel like I'm performing well, then I'll carry on.

03:29If one day that sort of time comes

03:33where you get a tap on the shoulder, then so be it.

03:36But at the minute, I'm enjoying it.

03:38Love being around the group.

03:39Love enjoying playing cricket for England still.

03:41And I'll carry on for as long as I possibly can.

03:44And Geoffrah Arch is back with the group.

03:45How good to have him amongst the ranks again?

03:47Yeah, great.

03:49I mean, brilliant for Geoff, brilliant for us as a team.

03:52Obviously, it's a big boost to have him back.

03:55You know, when Geoff's around, you know, he adds a lot to the group,

03:59not just as a player, but as a person, as a character.

04:03He's obviously had a tough journey over the last few years with his injuries.

04:06And I think, you know, it's credit to him,

04:08the hard work that he's put in to be able to be back in this position now,

04:11to be able to hopefully play Test cricket again.

04:14But, yeah, as I said, more delighted for him than us, really,

04:19because, you know, I know how hard it is to go through long spells of injury.

04:23So I probably haven't had the layoffs that he's had.

04:27But I know even just a niggle here and there can be really, you know, hard mentally.

04:31So full credit to him to get back to where he is now,

04:34where he's been, you know, an opportunity to play for England again.

04:36So great for us, great for him.

04:38And obviously great for the England fans as well to see him back in whites, hopefully.

04:41Can he get back to his best, do you think?

04:43Or do England fans need to manage your expectations?

04:45No, I mean, I think his best is probably still ahead of him, I think.

04:50You know, he looks physically great.

04:51You know, I'm sure he's chomping at the bit to get back out there

04:55and show people what he, you know, has already done in the whites.

04:59We all know how good he can be.

05:01But, you know, he's at an age where his best is probably still ahead of him.

05:04So that's exciting for him.

05:06It's exciting for us.

05:08And, you know, hopefully when he does get back out there,

05:12whether that's this week, next week, whenever it is,

05:15it will be great to have him back

05:17and obviously great for the fans also as well.

05:20We'll go to Joe and then Vish.

05:22Chris, it's another captivating five-day test match in Headingley

05:26and a match that England won from a position that,

05:29well, statistically, an odd one, wasn't it?

05:32Because you get 500 in just two weeks and then you win.

05:36Yeah.

05:36Does that make you feel as a bowling group,

05:38though, you have to do something a bit different

05:39against the Indian battle?

05:40I think we know how good the Indian batters are.

05:46You know, I think there was obviously a lot of talk

05:48about the retirement of the two legends of the game,

05:51but they've always had great depth,

05:53knocking on the doors to come through.

05:55And we've seen that.

05:56Some excellent players that we know we've got to be at our best

05:59to perform well against.

06:02You know, Headingley was a pretty good surface to bat on,

06:05you know, which made it hard work for the bowlers all round, I think.

06:09But, obviously, we did well in terms of being able to take 20 wickets

06:13and when they got ahead of the game with the bat,

06:16we managed to drag ourselves back into the game,

06:18which is really important and a good skill to have.

06:21But moving forward to here, I'm sure, again,

06:24probably looking at another good batting surface.

06:26There's good weather around,

06:28so it might be another hard week for the bowlers.

06:30But we'll obviously look at what things that we did well last week,

06:34maybe things that we didn't do so well,

06:35and try and put them right again this week.

06:37And by modern standards,

06:38there's a reasonable gap between these two test matches.

06:42In that sense in particular,

06:44is there any need to think about changing a winning team for me?

06:48I don't know.

06:49I think you always turn up at a new venue

06:51and look at the surface, look at the conditions,

06:54look at the past history of the surfaces that you plough on

06:57at these venues and maybe reassess

06:59what is likely to give you the best opportunity of winning this week.

07:04So, you know, that's not for me to decide.

07:07But, you know, we obviously put in a really strong performance last week

07:10and, you know, we're looking to do the same

07:11whichever XI goes out there this week.

07:13Just finally from me,

07:14and perhaps almost the most surprising thing about England's win

07:17is that people aren't surprised about winning

07:19in that kind of circumstance again.

07:20But I just wonder within the kind of ethos and mentality of the team

07:24to chase a total like that,

07:26does it just reinforce the kind of belief that you have

07:30in the way you're playing test match cricket?

07:31Yeah, I think so.

07:34I mean, obviously, as a player and as a team,

07:36you always get confidence from doing things well and winning.

07:39You know, you can do things well and lose

07:41and it doesn't quite always have that same effect.

07:43So it's always good to get over the line and get a win.

07:46That does, you know, breed some confidence within the group

07:48to show that we're doing some things right.

07:50We're also a group that we know we need to improve.

07:52There's areas that we did last week that we know we can do better.

07:54So, yeah, we'll look at putting those things right.

07:59But certainly as a team, the way we go about things,

08:01we're pretty happy with how we go about things

08:04and the kind of style of cricket

08:06and the brand of cricket that we want to play.

08:08We know that that's been successful over the last few years

08:11and we'll stick to that.

08:12But there's definitely still tweaks

08:14that we know we can do a bit better as a team.

08:16So we'll be looking to do that.

08:17Yeah, he was incredible.

08:31Just, you know, and without him having played a load of cricket

08:34leading into the test match for him to come in

08:37and do what he did and hit his straps, you know, at good pace.

08:42You know, he's obviously fit and lean at the minute,

08:44looking really strong, which is great for us

08:45because obviously we want him to play every test match that we play.

08:50But also, obviously, we want him to be that seamer

08:53that can bowl his overs and do what we know he can do,

08:56which he did last week.

08:58I thought he was amazing on a good pitch.

09:00He looked threatening every time he had the ball,

09:02the newer ball or the older ball.

09:05I think that's good to have, you know,

09:07we all know what Stokes is capable of,

09:08but it's great to have your leader being able to grab the ball like that

09:12and kind of showing you the way sometimes.

09:15So, yeah, we know what he's capable of

09:17and it was great that he showed that last week at Headingley.

09:20It was really good.

09:21His speed in particular were probably the highest they've been for a while,

09:24actually, with him and the consistency of the spells as well.

09:27Did you think that was coming?

09:28Because it sounds like, you know, he's bowling quite a lot in the net,

09:31even like a couple of days before,

09:33and maybe he wouldn't normally do that.

09:34Yeah, I mean, he doesn't do things in half measures, does he?

09:37You know, when he's training, he's training,

09:39and if he has time off, he has time off.

09:41But when he's there and he's doing his work,

09:43it's a real pleasure to watch sometimes.

09:46And, yeah, I could sense it was coming.

09:48He's certainly been training hard.

09:50I mean, you can see that the physical state he's in,

09:53he's in really good condition.

09:56And I think, obviously, the injuries that he's had,

09:58you know, he's probably just doubled down on his fitness

10:00to make sure he's in the best shape possible

10:02to be able to lead this team at his best.

10:04And he certainly did that last week,

10:06and hopefully there's more of that to come for the rest of this series.

10:09Just a last one for me.

10:10Do you think he's a bit more skillful than he was before

10:12because he's been able to work on his skills

10:15rather than just preserve himself from that to that?

10:18I think he's just, you know, I look at the best players in the world

10:22and they're always trying to get better,

10:23and he's always been the same, Ben.

10:25And I think over this little period,

10:27he's probably looked at his bowl and thought

10:28he could probably tinker a few things,

10:30try a few different new deliveries,

10:32you know, whether that be wobblesseam

10:34or, you know, he's been able to swing it.

10:37I mean, he's incredibly skillful.

10:39I think maybe in the past where he probably felt like

10:43he was probably just a bit inconsistent with it.

10:46But I think, as you say, I think what you saw last week

10:48was he was incredibly consistent with what he was trying to do,

10:51his relentlessness and his energy on the ball

10:53was as good as I've seen for a long time.

10:56So that's a good sign for us and for him.

10:59We've got time for two more.

11:01One at the front here,

11:01and then we'll just go at the back and then we're done.

11:04Chris, obviously last game we saw a flat weekend,

11:07but on those flat weekends,

11:09when India had two batting collapses,

11:11so going into that England innings,

11:13how much of a morale booster it was

11:15because you polished the England game quite cheaply on both innings?

11:17Yeah, I think, you know,

11:20always good to, I suppose,

11:22get you the last few wickets of a team out for quite cheaply.

11:27Yeah, I think the difference between chasing, you know,

11:30400s and late 300s is obviously a big difference.

11:34So I suppose it did give us a bit of confidence going in.

11:37But, you know, I think the way the team plays

11:40and the ethos that Ben and Brendan want the team to play with

11:43is that we'd have tried to chase down pretty much anything.

11:46But, obviously, the less runs you have to get on day five, the better.

11:49So I suppose it probably did give us a bit of confidence

11:51going into that batting innings,

11:53but obviously there was still a lot of work to do.

11:56And last one at the back of the room, please.

11:57Just from a Rishabh point of perspective,

11:59do you plan any different importance of the batting?

12:01Are there a challenge to try and improvise when you have to go in person?

12:05Sorry, I didn't get the start of that.

12:06What was that?

12:08Rishabh.

12:09Oh, Rishabh.

12:09Do you feel the need to sort of improvise when you have to go in person?

12:13Look, I mean, Rishabh's a player which you don't really know what's coming next.

12:19You know, he's a player which keeps you on your toes as a bowler,

12:21which is sometimes exciting to bowl against,

12:25but sometimes he, you know, he can put you on the back foot as a bowler.

12:29But, you know, he makes the game move forward.

12:32Exciting to be a part of the game when he's at the crease.

12:35But, look, he scored two hundreds, obviously up at Henningly,

12:39played really well, chanced his arm on a few occasions and came off.

12:42And hopefully this week we can get him a little bit earlier.

12:45But, you know, I think we haven't really met up yet,

12:49but I'm sure we'll have some discussions around some of the players

12:52that we come up against last week

12:53and how we can bowl at them a little bit better.

12:55OK, thank you.

12:57Cheers, sir.

12:59We've got BBC and talk at the back of the...

13:02Yes.

13:02And then we'll do a quick...

13:03We're just going to do BBC and talk sport separately

13:09and we'll do a quick...

13:10Cool.

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