Nasser Hussain, former England skipper and renowned commentator, said that current captain Joe Root should consider retaining Chris Woakes in the side for the second Test against Pakistan in Southampton, beginning August 13, even if that happens at the expense of James Anderson.
While Woakes was the all-round hero of England's victory in the first Test in Manchester, Anderson's struggles for the summer continued.
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Speaking over a nice selection headache before the news of Ben Stokes pulling out of the rest of the series due to personal reasons broke out, Hussain said if he was available to bowl again, as he showed late in the game at the Old Trafford, and if England is to then drop one of its specialist pacers to lengthen the batting, it should be Anderson and not Woakes.
"If Ben Stokes is fit to bowl then England have got some tough selections decisions to make ahead of the second Test and, I think this is the first time I have said this in my career as a broadcaster, I would have Woakes in the side ahead of James Anderson," Hussain had told Sky Sports.
"Before this game, I had Anderson ahead of Woakes but I think the way Woakes has played in this game, he has out-bowled Anderson and he's obviously out-batted Anderson so he has the edge."
"If Woakes is fit, he plays. Stuart Broad plays and Dom Bess plays. I've always said, have two English type seamers - so I'd probably go Broad and Woakes - and then one tearaway. So that is between Jofra Archer and Mark Wood."
After his new-ball burst on the opening day, Anderson, England's highest-ever Test wicket-taker, didn't look as threatening, taking just a solitary wicket in the entire match. While his issues this season can be put down to an extended break from the game, with injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic, the truth is that at 38, such failures are looked at completely differently than they are when you're young and so Anderson must once again bounceback and prove he isn't finished yet.
On the other hand, Woakes took four wickets in the match, before playing the best innings of his career, scoring a crucial 84 not out after arriving in the run-chase at 117/5, with England still needing 160 on a surface ideal for Pakistan's fast bowlers and spinners to exploit.
"Chris Woakes is probably the most popular man in that dressing room, probably the most under-valued cricketer by England really," Hussain said. "He always does it, he always goes under the radar and he is always the one who is left out because the superstars in that side - the 500-wicket boys, the nearly 600-wicket boy - but he is always there for England. He said on interview last night that he could do with a few more runs and he certainly delivered today!"
Woakes' partnership with Jos Buttler (75) for the sixth wicket helped England pull off a once unlikely three-wicket win.
"The other lad, Jos Buttler, he is in that inner-circle, in that think-tank. He's had three difficult days, he's dropped a couple of chances and with all the pressures of being on the field for virtually every moment, to go out and at the situation they were win and play like he did - that will be a very popular partnership from Buttler and Woakes," said Hussain.
"These things don't happen very often and that is why the Woakes innings is phenomenal. Jos Buttler in a run chase, he said they went into one-day mode a little bit and then you know that Jos is in his element. He knows what he is doing, and I always felt today that Jos could do that."
"But on a fourth day pitch, a little bit uneven, a little bit of spin, two wrist-spinners, a bloke who is struggling for runs - can't buy a run - dealing in binary digits, to go out and be 80-odd not out and win the game with his batting, that is the bit that surprised everyone," he added.
"On top of that, England were not playing the extra batsman, they left out Zak Crawley so everyone is saying is Woakes good enough to bat at seven? That was the innings that turned the game, it was Woakes."
