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