‘You just have to commit to the plan you're going with’ - Chris Woakes defends England’s strategy against tail

England all-rounder Chris Woakes defended Ben Stokes’ decision to fall back against Joshua de Silva in an attempt to bowl more against tail-ender Shamar Joseph in the second Test of the series at the Trent Bridge, Nottingham. The visitors were 386/9 and were on the verge of a collapse, but Joseph played an aggressive brand of cricket, which helped West Indies take a lead in the match. Former cricketer Michael Vaughan criticised England’s tactics, which Woakes defended later.

On Day 3 of the ongoing match, Joshua was leading the attack with the bat and towards the end, England went easy against him as the main focus was to pick up Shamar’s wicket. It didn’t help the Three Lions as the 24-year-old smashed 33 runs off 27 deliveries, which included two massive sixes. Their 71-run partnership helped West Indies get back on their feet, after a shambolic batting performance in the first Test.

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Woakes noted that they didn’t expect the number 11 to whack sixes and gave credit to the players for playing aggressively. He added that despite the hitting, they wanted to commit to the plan and eventually got success in the 112th over.

“It's a period that can cause problems. You just have to commit to the plan you're going with. It's not always going to be perfect. When the field goes out, as a bowler, it's easy to think you're not trying to get the set batter out and just think of the number 11. At the same time, you don't want to give away easy boundaries,” Woakes was quoted as saying by Cricbuzz.

“You don't always expect the number 11 to hit a couple into the stands. Fair play to them, they played it pretty well. We committed to it for long enough and eventually got the reward,” he added. 

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After Day 3, England are leading by 207 runs. Ben Duckett hit 76 runs, while Ollie Pope made 51 runs. Youngster Harry Brook was sensational as he hit 71* runs off 78 balls.