Skipping IPL to play County Championship, England's Chris Woakes aims for a Test return during Ashes

England’s World Cup-winning all-rounder Chris Woakes aims to make a return to the Test side during the home Ashes that starts on June 16th in Edgbaston. Having last appeared in whites during the Windies series in March 2022, Woakes skipped IPL 2023 just to play the County Championship for Warwickshire in a bid to make his much-awaited comeback to the Test side.

As per the right-handed all-rounder, he has a better record in England across formats and feels if he stays fit and Test-ready, he would love to be part of the Ashes squad.

"I would love to be a part of it and I still feel my record in England stands up against anyone's," Woakes told British media on Wednesday as quoted in Reuters. "If I can get myself red-ball fit and firing and bowling well I'd like to think I'd be in the mix. It's a tough side to get into, I recognise that, and have an opportunity at the start of the season to put in some performances."

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With James Anderson continuing to stay on the top of the bowling chart in Tests following remarkable performances lately, he would like to save some fuel for the travelling Australians. On the other hand, veteran Stuart Broad, fully-fit Jofra Archer along with Ollie Robinson will also make up for a great bowling pack heading into the Ashes.

While several English all-rounders made it big in the IPL 2023 auction, Woakes decided to skip playing in the cash-rich league as he doesn’t think he gets into the best shape to play Test cricket right after participating in so many T20 games on a stretch.

"Whenever I've come back from the IPL before I don't feel I've come back in the best shape going into the test summer," Woakes said. "For me, that jump from T20 to test cricket is quite a big jump and I have found that transition quite hard. It's different for batsmen. It's trickier for bowlers and all-rounders to go from tournament to tournament and still play for England."

Meanwhile, the Ashes will begin in Edgbaston with the following matches taking place at Lord’s, Leeds, Manchester, and the Oval.