Former England all-rounder Chris Woakes has expressed optimism about England’s chances in the upcoming Ashes series against Australia. Although England haven’t won an Ashes series Down Under since 2010-11, Woakes believes the current squad has the talent, balance, and depth to end that drought.
‘We’ve Got Great Depth and a Great Squad’
Woakes admitted that playing red-ball cricket in Australia remains one of the toughest challenges in world cricket, but he feels England have what it takes to compete at the highest level.
“𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅. 𝑮𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒂 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰’𝒎 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒚𝒔 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒅𝒐 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒋𝒐𝒃. 𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝑿𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅, 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆,” 𝑾𝒐𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝑩𝑩𝑪 𝑹𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒐 5 𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒆.
The 35-year-old, who recently retired from international cricket, emphasized the significance of preparation and consistency for success in Australian conditions.
‘Ashes Cricket Is Played With More Venom’
Speaking about the intensity and passion surrounding the Ashes, Woakes noted that this generation of English players has the experience and composure needed to handle the heat of the contest.
“𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒎 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕. 𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒊𝒈 𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔. 𝑾𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑫𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓,” 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
England began their 2025–27 World Test Championship campaign with a 2-2 draw against India earlier this year. Joe Root, Josh Tongue, and Ben Stokes were among their standout performers. Before the Ashes, England will take on New Zealand in a six-match white-ball series comprising three ODIs and three T20Is, starting October 18.
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